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A pictorial visualization of normal mode vibrations of the fullerene C_60 molecule in terms of vibrations of a hollow sphere

Dunn, Janette L.

Authors

Janette L. Dunn



Abstract

Understanding the normal mode vibrations of a molecule is important in the analysis of vibrational spectra. However, the complicated 3D motion of large molecules can be difficult to interpret. We show how images of normal modes of the fullerene molecule C60 can be made easier to understand by superimposing them on images of the normal mode vibrations of a thin spherical shell. We describe an interactive demonstration that allows the normal mode to be viewed with or without the shell. The images of the normal modes can be reoriented, and animated to show the vibration. In addition, supporting information includes images of all 174 normal modes of C60 in a common orientation, each of which can be animated. The ideas could be applied to other molecules in which the atoms all lie close to the surface of a sphere.

Citation

Dunn, J. L. (2010). A pictorial visualization of normal mode vibrations of the fullerene C_60 molecule in terms of vibrations of a hollow sphere. Journal of Chemical Education, https://doi.org/10.1021/ed100263f

Journal Article Type Article
Publication Date Jun 1, 2010
Deposit Date Jun 25, 2010
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Journal Journal of Chemical Education
Print ISSN 0021-9584
Electronic ISSN 0021-9584
Publisher American Chemical Society
Peer Reviewed Not Peer Reviewed
DOI https://doi.org/10.1021/ed100263f
Keywords fullerene, C60, normal mode, vibration
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1011944
Publisher URL http://pubs.acs.org/articlesonrequest/AOR-MkUM3xAcIiqNxnIPWFrq
Related Public URLs http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/~ppzjld/visualise.htm
Additional Information Attached PDF provides description of published article. For the full text, please go to: http://pubs.acs.org/articlesonrequest/AOR-MkUM3xAcIiqNxnIPWFrq

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