ATOMS · ORBITALS · BONDING

Chemistry Lab

Bring hydrogen atoms together. Explore the forces that shape a bond.

SCIENCE / INTERACTIVE EXPLORATIONMore elements and bonds coming soon.

What am I seeing? ⌄

At equilibrium, the ground-state molecule has its lowest potential energy and approximately zero net force.

The wave landscape shows a two-dimensional slice, not the outer surface of a physical orbital.

Drag either white nucleus to change separation · drag empty space to orbit

Blue / pink = relative wave phase; separated ground-state atoms are blue

Nuclear separation 2.80 Å

Drag a nucleus, or use this slider. In Squeeze mode, the energy slider controls separation; moving this slider switches to Light mode.

Atom AH1 proton

Atomic orbital1s1 electron

Atom BH1 proton

SystemH₂two nuclei

Occupied orbitalσ1sbonding

Electrons2bonding orbital

Net force≈ 0equilibrium

Live instrument panel

Bond separation i

2.80 Å

Net attraction i

0.00 eV/Å

Net repulsion i

0.00 eV/Å

Potential energy i

0.00 eV

These two force gauges split the net restoring force by direction. Real attraction and repulsion coexist even at equilibrium.

About this experiment

This is an interactive educational model of two hydrogen atoms, not a fully accurate quantum-mechanical simulation. The electron clouds and orbital shapes are illustrative; the animated force lines show the direction of the modeled interaction, not visible physical strands. The potential-energy and force gauges use an approximate ground-state H₂ model.

The light-energy control demonstrates the idea of electronic excitation using a simplified threshold. In real molecules, photon absorption depends on matching allowed energy transitions—not simply exceeding a threshold. The excited orbital drawing and automatic return to ground state are teaching illustrations, not predictions of real H₂ behavior.

Energy experiment i

Energy input

0.00 eV

Photon energy is set by frequency, not brightness. Absorption requires an allowed transition.

Experiment notes ⌄

Move the energy slider: above the marked threshold the schematic excited view appears automatically. Real photon absorption requires resonance and selection rules.

Lower energy below the threshold to return to the ground view automatically.

These experiments illustrate different mechanisms; they are not interchangeable. Light models a simplified resonance, collision an illustrative energy transfer, and squeeze changes nuclear separation. Neither excited-state energies nor collision outcomes are calibrated H₂ predictions.

Wave probe i

Probe position along bond 0.00 Å

Signed wave amplitude ψ

Probability density |ψ|²

The same cursor marks the same position on both graphs. Negative ψ can still produce positive probability density. A node is where both reach zero. These are relative, unnormalized profiles.

Nerdsty educational prototype · Orbital visualization: normalized illustrative 1s linear-combination molecular orbitals (not a correlated two-electron solution). Nuclear potential: Morse-model approximation for ground-state H₂, D≈4.52 eV, a≈2.2 Å⁻¹. Photon excitation is a schematic depiction of an allowed UV transition, not an exact H₂ electronic wavefunction or spectrum; energy gauges continue to represent the ground-state potential. Force effects are metaphors, not literal electric arcs. Three.js requires an internet connection to load.