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Molecular physics
 
 
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Molecular physics is the study of the physical properties of molecule
Molecule

In chemistry, a molecule is defined as a sufficiently stable, electric charge neutral group of at least two atoms in a definite arrangement held together by very strong chemical bonds....
s and of the chemical bond
Chemical bond

A chemical bond is the physical process responsible for the attractive interactions between atoms and molecules, and that which confers stability to diatomic and polyatomic chemical compounds....
s between atom
Atom

|-! bgcolor=gray | Properties|-||}The atom is a basic unit of matter consisting of a dense, central atomic nucleus surrounded by a electron cloud of electric charge electrons....
s that bind them. Its most important experimental techniques are the various types of spectroscopy
Spectroscopy

Spectroscopy was originally the study of the interaction between radiation and matter as a function of wavelength . In fact, historically, spectroscopy referred to the use of visible light dispersed according to its wavelength, e.g....
. The field is closely related to atomic physics
Atomic physics

Atomic physics is the field of physics that studies atoms as an isolated system of electrons and an atomic nuclei. It is primarily concerned with the Electron configuration and...
 and overlaps greatly with theoretical chemistry
Theoretical chemistry

Theoretical chemistry involves the use of physics to explain or predict chemistry phenomena. In recent years, it has consisted primarily of quantum chemistry, i.e., the application of quantum mechanics to problems in chemistry....
, physical chemistry
Physical chemistry

Physical chemistry is the application of physics to macroscopic, microscopic, atomic, subatomic, and particulate phenomena in chemical systems within the field of chemistry traditionally using the principles, practices and concepts of thermodynamics, quantum chemistry, statistical mechanics and kinetics....
 and chemical physics
Chemical physics

Chemical physics is a subdiscipline of chemistry and physics that investigates physicochemical phenomena using techniques from atomic, molecular, and optical physics and condensed matter physics; it is the branch of physics that studies chemical processes from the point of view of physics....
.

Additionally to the electronic excitation states which are known from atoms, molecules are able to rotate and to vibrate. These rotations and vibrations are quantized, there are discrete energy level
Energy level

A Quantum mechanics system or particle that is Bound state, confined spatially, can only take on certain discrete values of energy, as opposed to Classical mechanics particles, which can have any energy....
s.






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Molecular physics is the study of the physical properties of molecule
Molecule

In chemistry, a molecule is defined as a sufficiently stable, electric charge neutral group of at least two atoms in a definite arrangement held together by very strong chemical bonds....
s and of the chemical bond
Chemical bond

A chemical bond is the physical process responsible for the attractive interactions between atoms and molecules, and that which confers stability to diatomic and polyatomic chemical compounds....
s between atom
Atom

|-! bgcolor=gray | Properties|-||}The atom is a basic unit of matter consisting of a dense, central atomic nucleus surrounded by a electron cloud of electric charge electrons....
s that bind them. Its most important experimental techniques are the various types of spectroscopy
Spectroscopy

Spectroscopy was originally the study of the interaction between radiation and matter as a function of wavelength . In fact, historically, spectroscopy referred to the use of visible light dispersed according to its wavelength, e.g....
. The field is closely related to atomic physics
Atomic physics

Atomic physics is the field of physics that studies atoms as an isolated system of electrons and an atomic nuclei. It is primarily concerned with the Electron configuration and...
 and overlaps greatly with theoretical chemistry
Theoretical chemistry

Theoretical chemistry involves the use of physics to explain or predict chemistry phenomena. In recent years, it has consisted primarily of quantum chemistry, i.e., the application of quantum mechanics to problems in chemistry....
, physical chemistry
Physical chemistry

Physical chemistry is the application of physics to macroscopic, microscopic, atomic, subatomic, and particulate phenomena in chemical systems within the field of chemistry traditionally using the principles, practices and concepts of thermodynamics, quantum chemistry, statistical mechanics and kinetics....
 and chemical physics
Chemical physics

Chemical physics is a subdiscipline of chemistry and physics that investigates physicochemical phenomena using techniques from atomic, molecular, and optical physics and condensed matter physics; it is the branch of physics that studies chemical processes from the point of view of physics....
.

Additionally to the electronic excitation states which are known from atoms, molecules are able to rotate and to vibrate. These rotations and vibrations are quantized, there are discrete energy level
Energy level

A Quantum mechanics system or particle that is Bound state, confined spatially, can only take on certain discrete values of energy, as opposed to Classical mechanics particles, which can have any energy....
s. The smallest energy differences exist between different rotational states, therefore pure rotational spectra
Spectrum

A spectrum is a condition that is not limited to a specific set of values but can vary infinitely within a Continuum . The word saw its first scientific use within the field of optics to describe the rainbow of colors in visible light when separated using a triangular prism ; it has since been applied by analogy to many fields other than op...
 are in the far infrared
Infrared

Infrared radiation is electromagnetic radiation whose wavelength is longer than that of visible light , but shorter than that of terahertz radiation and microwaves ....
 region (about 30 - 150 µm wavelength
Wavelength

In physics, wavelength is the distance between repeating units of a propagating wave of a given frequency. It is commonly designated by the Greek language letter lambda ....
) of the electromagnetic spectrum
Electromagnetic spectrum

The electromagnetic spectrum is the range of all possible electromagnetic radiation frequencies. The "electromagnetic spectrum" of an object is the characteristic distribution of electromagnetic radiation from that particular object....
. Vibrational spectra are in the near infrared (about 1 - 5 µm) and spectra resulting from electronic transitions are mostly in the visible and ultraviolet
Ultraviolet

Ultraviolet light is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength shorter than that of visible light, but longer than x-rays, in the range 400 nanometer to 10 nm, and energies from 3 Electron volt to 124 eV....
 regions. From measuring rotational and vibrational spectra properties of molecules like the distance between the nuclei can be calculated.

One important aspect of molecular physics is that the essential atomic orbital
Atomic orbital

An atomic orbital is a mathematical function that describes the wave-like behavior of an electron in an atom. This function can be used to calculate the probability of finding any electron of an atom in any specific region around the atom's nucleus....
 theory in the field of atomic physics expands to the molecular orbital
Molecular orbital

In chemistry, a molecular orbital is a mathematical function that describes the wave-like behavior of an electron in a molecule. This function can be used to calculate chemical and physical properties such as the probability of finding an electron in any specific region....
 theory.

See also

  • Born-Oppenheimer Approximation
    Born-Oppenheimer approximation

    In quantum chemistry, the computation of the energy and wavefunction of an average-size molecule is a formidable task that is alleviated by the Born-Oppenheimer approximation....
  • Molecular energy state
  • Molecular modeling
    Molecular modelling

    Molecular modelling is a collective term that refers to theoretical methods and computational techniques to model or mimic the behaviour of molecules....
  • Rigid rotor
    Rigid rotor

    The rigid rotor is a mechanical model that is used to explain rotating systems.An arbitrary rigid rotor is a 3-dimensional rigid object, such as a top....
  • Spectroscopy
    Spectroscopy

    Spectroscopy was originally the study of the interaction between radiation and matter as a function of wavelength . In fact, historically, spectroscopy referred to the use of visible light dispersed according to its wavelength, e.g....