The Morse Potential and Molecular Vibrations

[@ciarasolomon6697]

This is just what I needed today, thank you so much!

[@iamsorelentless6384]

Very nice video with awesome explanation! Thank you

[@saif5428]

Hello ! Loved the video as a physics undergrad ! any reason to why in Modified Morse Potential, we can subtract or add De as any arbitrary constant ? from wikipedia on morse potential , I find : "Since the zero of potential energy is arbitrary, the equation for the Morse potential can be rewritten any number of ways by adding or subtracting a constant value." Then proceeded to subtract De from the main equation. I have tried reading the theory from multiple textbooks but I cannot understand why we can do this. Also isnt morse potential a true potential function but rather an approximation of taylor expansion

[@ProfMelko]

Where you set the zero of energy does not matter. Because energy is always about relative values. For example, the energy stored in a bond is relative to the energies of the separated atoms. Adding or subtracting a constant simply moves the potential up or down on the energy scale, but does not change the relative energy values (for example the difference in energy from asymptote to the bottom of the potential), which is what's important