Compare the potential energy of two atoms chemically bonded to their potential energy when separated.

When two atoms are chemically bonded they have Lower potential energies while when they are separated they have higher potential energies

The potential energies of atoms chemically bonded is directly proportional to the distance between the atoms ( i.e as the distance between atoms decrease the potential energies of the atoms decreases accordingly)  and this enables chemically bonded atoms to attain a more stable state.

The lower the potential energy of bonded atoms the more stable the element/compound  becomes therefore it is necessary that bonded atoms attain the least possible potential energy.

Hence we can conclude that When two atoms are chemically bonded they have Lower potential energies while when they are separated they have higher potential energies .

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Explanation:

The essence of chemical bonding is in order to attain minimum energy. The minimum energy state is the most stable state of a chemical system.

As the distance of separation between atoms decreases, the potential energy of the system decreases accordingly.

An optimum distance is reached when the two atoms attain the lowest potential energy. This is designated as the bond distance of the two atoms.

Hence two atoms have lower potential energy when bonded than when separated at large distance.