Question

The reduced mass of diatomic molecule made up of mass M1 and M2 is
A) m1 + m2 /m1m2
B) m1m2/ m1 + m2
C) m1 +m2/ m1 - m2
D) m1 +m2

Answer 1

Answer:

The reduced mass of a diatomic molecule is defined as m* = m_1m_2/m_1 + m_2 where m1 and m2 are the respective mass of each atom. The moment of inertia of a diatomic molecule is defined as I = m*R^2 where R is the bond length of the molecule.

Answer 2

Answer:

B) m1m2/m1+m2

Explanation:

• Reduced mass is the representation of two bodies as a single body.
• The equation of motion of two mutually interacting bodies can be reduced into a single equation that describes the motion of one body in a reference frame centered in the other body
• If m1 and m2 are the masses of the atoms of the diatomic molecule then the reduced mass is

                               $\mu =\frac{m1m2}{m1+m2}$