Bonding: Why Atoms Stick Together
Drag two atoms together and watch a shared electron-pair bridge or an ionic electron transfer settle into a valley on the potential energy curve.
Two atoms, still strangers
Two atoms, each wearing the electron cloud from the previous chapter, sit side by side. While they are far apart, the clouds do not even notice each other. The energy scale stays at zero too. Use the distance slider to bring them together little by little and get a sense of the distance where the clouds begin to touch.
Shrink the distance from about 5 toward 3 and find the moment the clouds begin to touch.
E(d)=-0.23·valley depth 4.5
Energy Valley
Current E-0.23
Valley-floor E−4.50
Bond length d₀1.50