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Point groups are used to describe the symmetries of geometric figures and physical objects such as molecules. Each point group can be represented as sets of orthogonal matrices M that transform point x into point y according to y = Mx. Each element of a point group is either a rotation (determinant of M = 1), or it is a reflection or improper ...
The point group symmetry of a molecule is defined by the presence or absence of 5 types of symmetry element.. Symmetry axis: an axis around which a rotation by results in a molecule indistinguishable from the original.
These groups are characterized by an n-fold improper rotation axis S n, where n is necessarily even. The S 2 group is the same as the C i group in the nonaxial groups section. S n groups with an odd value of n are identical to C nh groups of same n and are therefore not considered here (in particular, S 1 is identical to C s).
Molecular symmetry in physics and chemistry describes the symmetry present in molecules and the classification of molecules according to their symmetry. Molecular symmetry is a fundamental concept in the application of Quantum Mechanics in physics and chemistry, for example it can be used to predict or explain many of a molecule's properties, such as its dipole moment and its allowed ...
Inversion (i ) is a more complex operation. Each point moves through the center of the molecule to a position opposite the original position and as far from the central point as where it started. Many molecules that seem at first glance to have an inversion center do not; for example, methane and other tetrahedral molecules lack inversion ...
Such species belong to the point group D 3h. Molecules where the three ligands are not identical, such as H 2 CO, deviate from this idealized geometry. Examples of molecules with trigonal planar geometry include boron trifluoride (BF 3), formaldehyde (H 2 CO), phosgene (COCl 2), and sulfur trioxide (SO 3).
A crystal system is a set of point groups in which the point groups themselves and their corresponding space groups are assigned to a lattice system. Of the 32 point groups that exist in three dimensions, most are assigned to only one lattice system, in which case the crystal system and lattice system both have the same name.
In crystallography, a centrosymmetric point group contains an inversion center as one of its symmetry elements. [1] In such a point group, for every point (x, y, z) in the unit cell there is an indistinguishable point (-x, -y, -z). Such point groups are also said to have inversion symmetry. [2] Point reflection is a similar