Divination of molecular structure through an application of character theoryRachel Krieger, CU |
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December 2 AbstractUnderstanding molecular structure is a keystone concept in chemistry. Knowledge of structure precludes understanding molecular interactions, and therefore chemical reactions. Once the composition of a molecule is determined (i.e. how many and what type of atoms comprise a molecule), there are many possible configurations of the atoms. However, only one configuration provides an accurate model of the molecule. Different molecular structures have different groups of symmetries, and certain representations of this group correspond to physical, measurable phenomena. This talk will describe what kinds of representations are physically identifiable, and how such observations lead to an understanding of the symmetry structure of a molecule. |