Question

Use excel to draw a potential energy curve for any two-atom system (such as H2). Please show the formula. Or explain the steps to draw this curve. Thank you!

Answer 1

When the two hydrogen's approaches each other, the potential energy of the system decreases because of the forces of attraction. At a particular distance between the nuclei, the value of potential energy reaches minimum. When the forces of attraction and repulsion balance each other, the potential energy reaches the minimum. At this point, covalent bond is formed in the molecule.

and in calculating the potentia energy, the vandewalsequation was used. For more details, please visit the following link

http//authors.library.caltech.edu/25050/13/Chapter_12.pdf.

If you really want to plot by doing an experiment then use a software like Gaussian.