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vineroon
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Homework Statement
A triatomic molecule consists of 3 atoms arranged along a straight line. The molecules can
translate and rotate but not vibrate. How many degrees of freedom are associated with this molecule?
Homework Equations
Molar Heat Capacity of Gases:
Cv = f/2(R)
f - degrees of freedom
The Attempt at a Solution
I figured that a triatomic gas would have the same translational motion as that of a monoatomic and diatomic molecule and it would have perhaps more axes of rotational motion than diatomic molecules. And from seeing that diatomic molecules have 5 degrees of freedom after ignoring vibrational motion, I am assuming that you can drop vibrational motion for triatomic molecules as well.
Would I be correct in concluding that a triatomic molecule has 6 degrees of freedom? I came to this conclusion by one more rotational axis. I'm not sure this is correct, however.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
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