ABSTRACT
The general shape of the potential energy curve for the stretching or bending of a molecular bond is shown in Fig. 1. The bottom of the potential energy well occurs at the equilibrium bond length Re. The potential energy rises steeply for bond lengths R<Re because of strong repulsion between the positively-charged nuclei of the atoms at each end of the bond (Topic H6.). Potential energy rises as the atoms move further apart because of molecular bond distortion. Complete dissociation of the bond occurs as R→∞.
