If the particles are both positively or negatively charged, the force is repulsive; if they are of opposite charge, it is attractive. This called Coulomb’s law and was the first attempt to understand the electric force. Like the gravitational force, the Coulomb force is an inverse square law.

The distance out to the bottom of the potential well is the equilibrium separation, i.e. the separation to which the atoms will naturally move. The depth of the potential well gives the maximum binding energy, i.e. the maximum energy (not force) needed to break the bond.

Pauli Repulsion in Ionic Molecules

Of course, the gravitational force is always attractive, so this minus sign is always present, but in different kind of forces such as Coulomb force, a negative module means an attractive force while a positive module means a repulsive one, and the sign of the module comes from the sign of the charges.

Increasing the separation distance between objects decreases the force of attraction or repulsion between the objects. And decreasing the separation distance between objects increases the force of attraction or repulsion between the objects.

1 : the action of repulsing : the state of being repulsed. 2 : the action of repelling : the force with which bodies, particles, or like forces repel one another. 3 : a feeling of aversion : repugnance.

1 : serving or able to repulse repulsive force. 2 : tending to repel or reject : cold, forbidding.

(1) The act or process where bodies or objects repel each other. (2) The tendency of objects to resist each other. (3) The force between objects that drives them apart. Supplement. In genetics, repulsion may refer to the tendency in certain linked genetic characters to be inherited separately (in contrast to coupling).