The net potential energy between two adjacent ions, EN, may be represented as, (2.17) Calculate the bonding energy E0 in terms of the parameters A, B, and n using the following procedure: 1. Differentiate EN with respect to r, and then set the resulting expression equal to zero, since the curve of EN versus r is a minimum at E0.
2. Solve for r in terms of A, B, and n, which yields r0 , the equilibrium interionic spacing.
3. Determine the expression for E0 by substitution of r0 into Equation 2.17.