What this graph is telling you is that, if the two molecules are farther apart than rm, the force between them is attractive, but if they are closer together than this, the force is repulsive.destroyer130 said:
The Lennard-Jones potential graph is a mathematical representation of the intermolecular potential energy between two particles as a function of their separation distance. It is commonly used to model the interactions between atoms or molecules in a system.
The "attractive/repulsive force" in the Lennard-Jones potential graph refers to the two components of the intermolecular potential energy: the attractive force due to van der Waals interactions and the repulsive force due to the overlap of electron clouds in the atoms or molecules.
The attractive force causes the potential energy to decrease as the particles get closer together, while the repulsive force causes it to increase as the particles get too close. This results in a potential energy curve that is shallow at long distances, has a minimum energy at an optimal distance, and increases rapidly at short distances due to the repulsive force.
The "well depth" on the Lennard-Jones potential graph represents the minimum potential energy that the two particles can have. This depth is determined by the strength of the attractive force between the particles and is a measure of the stability of the system.
The Lennard-Jones potential graph is used in various fields of science, such as chemistry, physics, and materials science, to model the interactions between particles in a system. It is also used in molecular dynamics simulations to study the behavior and properties of molecules and materials. Additionally, it can be used to predict the phase behavior and stability of a substance under different conditions.