Interaction energy

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In physics, interaction energy is the contribution to the total energy that is caused by an interaction between the objects being considered.

The interaction energy usually depends on the relative position of the objects. For example, ${\displaystyle Q_{1}Q_{2}/(4\pi \varepsilon _{0}\Delta r)}$ is the electrostatic interaction energy between two objects with charges ${\displaystyle Q_{1}}$, ${\displaystyle Q_{2}}$.