What happens when two atoms collide?

Question

jamesj · Answer

They either
- bounce off each other (e.g., two argon atoms in the air around you)
- form a chemical bond (e.g., two hydrogen atoms in the air around you)
- fuse together to form a new element (e.g., two hydrogen atoms in the sun)

anonymous · Answer

What makes them do those things, i mean is there anything around them that determines which one of them happens?

jamesj · Answer

It depends on the particular properties of those atoms and the energy they have.  E.g., argon is a noble gas and it requires a lot of energy to force it to bond with another atom.

Hydrogen on the other hand does not require a lot of energy to bond to with another hydrogen atom; in fact, energy is released when the bond is formed between them.

The energy required to make two atoms fuse, even two hydrogen atoms the 'easiest' of all fusion reactions, is huge. You need to be in a special high energy environment, like the high pressure, high temperature one of a star for it to happen.

anonymous · Answer

I see, but when you talk about them having energy, what do you mean? And doesnt ozone get created by free oxygen atoms fusing with dioxide (or whatever its called)?

jamesj · Answer

What kinds of energy can an atom have?  When I say energy, I mean all of the answers to that question.

anonymous · Answer

What do you mean?

jamesj · Answer

What kinds of energy can an atom have?

What I'm really doing is throwing that question back at you.  I can answer it, but it doesn't make sense to answer it unless you understand something already about the way atoms work.  So you find out what kinds of energy an atom can have, and that will be the answer to your question what I mean by energy.

anonymous · Answer

Ah, you mean i should say what kinds of energy they can have? i guess kinetic, linear energy, nuclear, warmth energy..

anonymous · Answer

I have no idea actually... All i know is that they should be able to have kinetic energy.