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This series of three Mathcad instructional
documents permits students to explore the relationship between the
time and frequency representations of vibrational motion in
simple diatomic molecules. Molecular vibrations are described by
a harmonic oscillator model in FTMolVib.mcd, an
anharmonic "Morse" oscillator model in FTAnharm.mcd, and a
damped harmonic oscillator model in FTLifeTime.mcd. In each
case, a classical equation of motion is defined and is solved
using the Runge-Kutta method, yielding the bond
displacement as a function of time. A Fourier transform is
subsequently performed to obtain the frequency spectra of these
vibrations. Exercises included throughout and at the end of each
document allow students to practice the numerical methods
and further investigate how bond anharmonicity and
vibrational damping affect the frequency spectrum. Upon
completing these documents, students will recognize the link
between bond anharmonicity and overtone spectra, and will be
familiar with the concepts of anharmonic red shifts and
lifetime broadening.
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