Equilibrium Bond Lab

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Using a Rotational Spectrum to Determine Equilibrium Bond Length and Related Rovibrational Constants
Michelle Plavnik
Department of Chemistry, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, 30322, United States

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ABSTRACT: Global warming's effects and the amounts of greenhouse gases needs to be reduced, and by identifying the properties and identities of the molecules causing the effect, the gases can be eliminated. Rovibrational spectroscopy is an identification technique. The purpose of this lab is to examine how plausible the approach of determining rovibrational constants and related values from spectra is. This goal was investigated by taking the rovibrational spectra of HCl. From this spectrum, plots were made and analyzed, and from that analysis …show more content…

Temperatures have been steadily increasing causing environmental changes in ecosystems and rising sea levels. Global warming is caused by the greenhouse effect, which is the scenario in which certain molecules trap the radiation from the sun in earth's atmosphere. These molecules include carbon dioxide, sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and perfluorocarbons (PFCs). 1 All of these compounds are infrared active, which means infrared radiation excites transitions of their electrons. Because they are infrared active, they can be identified from infrared spectra.2 The spectrum gives two main pieces of information: the intensity of the peak and the frequency of the transition. The intensity can be used to identify the concentration of the compound, and the frequency can be used to identify the compound …show more content…

Once known, this information can be used to manipulate the molecules in certain ways, mainly for the purpose of eliminating them from the atmosphere. By reducing the amount of greenhouse gases, the greenhouse effect will be lessened. In addition, greenhouse gases obstruct what astrochemists can see, so by reducing their presence in the atmosphere astrochemists can more effectively complete their observations. 2 Analyzing spectra is a way to observe how molecules interact with energy. Molecules have several ways of storing and expressing energy. They can do so through translational, electronic, vibrational, and rotational transitions. Electronic transitions hold more energy than vibrational transitions, which hold more energy than rotational transitions. The total energy of the system would be the sum of the quantum energy levels.2 The harmonic oscillator is a model of a system that stores and expresses vibrational energy. It begins in classical physics with a weight attached to a spring, which is attached to a solid immobile surface. This weight can oscillate back and forth on the spring. When this model is applied to atoms and molecules, the bond between the two atoms becomes the spring. The vibrational motion between the two atoms is the oscillation. The potential energy of the ball or atom is found, and this is used to predict the energy levels of the