Editing Molecule (section)

== Molecular science ==

The science of molecules is called ''molecular chemistry'' or ''[[molecular physics]]'', depending on whether the focus is on chemistry or physics. Molecular chemistry deals with the laws governing the interaction between molecules that results in the formation and breakage of chemical bonds, while molecular physics deals with the laws governing their structure and properties. In practice, however, this distinction is vague. In molecular sciences, a molecule consists of a stable system ([[bound state]]) composed of two or more atoms. [[Polyatomic ion]]s may sometimes be usefully thought of as electrically charged molecules. The term ''unstable molecule'' is used for very [[reactivity (chemistry)|reactive]] species, i.e., short-lived assemblies ([[Resonance (chemistry)|resonances]]) of electrons and [[atomic nucleus|nuclei]], such as [[radical (chemistry)|radicals]], [[Polyatomic ion|molecular ions]], [[Rydberg molecule]]s, [[transition state]]s, [[van der Waals bonding|van der Waals complexes]], or systems of colliding atoms as in [[Bose–Einstein condensate]].