ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Bond order potential

Bond order potential is a measure of how strong the bond is between two atoms in a molecule. Think of atoms as puzzle pieces, and when they fit together perfectly, they make a complete puzzle. The bond order potential tells us how well those puzzle pieces fit together.

Let's say we have two atoms, A and B, and they want to bond together to form a molecule. The bond order potential tells us how stable that bond will be. If the bond order potential is high, it means that the two puzzle pieces fit together very well, and the bond will be strong and stable. If the bond order potential is low, it means that the two puzzle pieces don't fit together very well, and the bond will be weak and unstable.

To calculate the bond order potential, we need to know the number of bonding electrons and the number of non-bonding electrons in the molecule. Bonding electrons are the electrons that are shared between the two atoms, while non-bonding electrons are the electrons that belong to each atom individually.

The formula for calculating bond order potential is:

Bond Order Potential = (Number of bonding electrons - Number of non-bonding electrons) / 2

So, let's say we have a molecule AB, and atom A has 2 electrons and atom B has 6 electrons. When they bond together, they share 2 electrons, so there are 4 bonding electrons and 4 non-bonding electrons. Using the above formula, we get:

Bond Order Potential = (4 - 4) / 2 = 0

This means that the bond between A and B is very weak and unstable, as the puzzle pieces don't fit together well.

On the other hand, if we have a molecule AB2, where each atom has 6 electrons and they share all 12 electrons, we get:

Bond Order Potential = (12 - 0) / 2 = 6

This means that the bond between A and B is very strong and stable, as the puzzle pieces fit together perfectly.

In summary, the bond order potential tells us how well puzzle pieces (atoms) fit together to form a molecule, and the higher the bond order potential, the stronger and more stable the bond will be.