The following diagram shows the potential energy of two atoms as ...

Question

The following diagram shows the potential energy of two atoms as a function of internuclear distance. Match the descriptions with the indicated letter on the plot. (a) Repulsive forces are high between the two atoms. (b) The two atoms neither exert attractive nor repulsive forces on one another. (c) The attractive forces between atoms are maximized, resulting in the lowest energy state. (d) Attractive forces between atoms are present but are not at maximum strength.

Accepted Answer

Welcome back everyone. The potential energy of two atoms as a function of inter nuclear distance is depicted in the diagram below. We have a true or false example. The repulsive forces between the two atoms are strongest at point B. So looking at our diagram given we have at point A. Based on our diagram a point of high energy between these two atoms. And because we have high energy, we want to recognize that this corresponds to strong repulsion between our two atoms. And if there's a strong repulsion between our two atoms, that means that these atoms Are close to one another. And so now looking at point B, we see that we have the opposite of point A, which is much lower energy based on our graph. And so because we have low energy, we would see that we have minimum repulsion between our two atoms and therefore that would correspond to our atoms are separate. Sorry, this should say our atoms are separate. So now we want to focus on defining point. See where we can see based on our diagram, that point C is almost at a point of no energy. And so if there is low energy, we would assume that this corresponds to also just no interaction. We can say between our two atoms and no bonding therefore, which means that our atoms are too far apart. So going back to our statement given in the prompt, the repulsive repulsive forces between two atoms are strongest at point B. We define that at point B. We have low energy minimum repulsion and our atoms are separate. And so we would assume that for our prompt or rather we would confirm for our prompt that our final answer is going to be that the given statement is a false statement. We would correct it to say that the repulsive forces between the two atoms are weakest at point B. Hence the low amount of energy recorded on the diagram. So false would be our final answer. To complete this example. I hope everything I reviewed was clear. If you have any questions, leave them down below and I'll see everyone in the next video.

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