The net potential energy between two adjacent ions, En, may be represented by the sum of
EN= -A/r + B/rn
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, because 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 buy substituting r0 into En= -A/r + B/rn