Question

The following four problems are used by a physicist to determine whether (LiH)2+ could be a stable species in an ionized gas.

Now, let rLiH vary continuously from infinity to zero. i) Make a sketch of the potential energy of the (LiH)2+ molecular ion as a function of rLiH. Let the energy of isolated atoms/ions be defined as zero. ii) Identify the region of this potential energy curve that is dominated by the attraction of the electrons to the nuclei. iii) Next, identify the region of the curve that is dominated by nuclear repulsion. iv) Finally, identify the point where the derivatives of these influences with respect to rLiH are equal but opposite. What is the physical significance of this point?

Answer 1