Question

According to valence bond theory, the minimum of the potential energy curve describing the interaction of H atoms in H2 corresponds to __________.

Answer 1

The interaction between the two atoms of H in H2 with the lower energy corresponds to a covalent bond between hydrogen's.

When the two atoms of H form a bond, they are overlapping the individual orbitals to form a new one. Every hydrogen has 1 electron which sits in a 1s orbital and then form one molecular orbital. The energy of H2 is lower than individual hydrogens because the electrostatic interaction between them.