Question

Deduce the translational,rotational and vibrational mode of Ammonia,carbon(IV)oxide and ethylene

Answer 1

Answer:

A molecule has translational and rotational motion as a whole while each atom has it's own motion. The vibrational modes can be IR or Raman active. For a mode to be observed in the IR spectrum, changes must occur in the permanent dipole (i.e. not diatomic molecules). Diatomic molecules are observed in the Raman spectra but not in the IR spectra. This is due to the fact that diatomic molecules have one band and no permanent dipole, and therefore one single vibration. An example of this would be O2 or N2. However, unsymmetric diatomic molecules (i.e. CN) do absorb in the IR spectra. Polyatomic molecules undergo more complex vibrations that can be summed or resolved into normal modes of vibration.

The normal modes of vibration are: asymmetric, symmetric, wagging, twisting, scissoring, and rocking for polyatomic molecules.