Pair potential
Encyclopedia
In mechanics
, a pair potential is a function that describes the potential energy
of two interacting objects. Examples of pair potentials include the Coulomb's law
, Newton's law of universal gravitation
, the Lennard-Jones potential
and the Morse potential
.
Pair potentials are very common in physics; exceptions are very rare. An example of a potential energy function that is not a pair potential is the three-body Axilrod-Teller potential.
Mechanics
Mechanics is the branch of physics concerned with the behavior of physical bodies when subjected to forces or displacements, and the subsequent effects of the bodies on their environment....
, a pair potential is a function that describes the potential energy
Potential energy
In physics, potential energy is the energy stored in a body or in a system due to its position in a force field or due to its configuration. The SI unit of measure for energy and work is the Joule...
of two interacting objects. Examples of pair potentials include the Coulomb's law
Coulomb's law
Coulomb's law or Coulomb's inverse-square law, is a law of physics describing the electrostatic interaction between electrically charged particles. It was first published in 1785 by French physicist Charles Augustin de Coulomb and was essential to the development of the theory of electromagnetism...
, Newton's law of universal gravitation
Newton's law of universal gravitation
Newton's law of universal gravitation states that every point mass in the universe attracts every other point mass with a force that is directly proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them...
, the Lennard-Jones potential
Lennard-Jones potential
The Lennard-Jones potential is a mathematically simple model that approximates the interaction between a pair of neutral atoms or molecules. A form of the potential was first proposed in 1924 by John Lennard-Jones...
and the Morse potential
Morse potential
The Morse potential, named after physicist Philip M. Morse, is a convenient model for the potential energy of a diatomic molecule. It is a better approximation for the vibrational structure of the molecule than the quantum harmonic oscillator because it explicitly includes the effects of bond...
.
Pair potentials are very common in physics; exceptions are very rare. An example of a potential energy function that is not a pair potential is the three-body Axilrod-Teller potential.