From the qualitative shapes of the interatomic potential energi... | Filo

Figure 7.49 is a potential energy curve for the interaction of two neutral atoms. The two-atom system is in a vibrational state indicated by the green horizontal line. (a) At r=r1, what are the approximate values of the kinetic energy K, the potential energy U, and the quantity K U ? (b) What minimum energy must be supplied to cause these two atoms to separate? (c) In some cases, when r is large, the interatomic potential energy can be expressed approximately as U=-a / r^6 . For large r, what is