IIT JEE , AIEEE Forum - Physics , Thermal Physics

madman

the total internal energy of a molecule is stored is a sum total of three types of energies

1. translational kinetic energy

2. rotational kinetic energy

3. vibrational energy

now any molecule can move either in x direction or in y direction or in z direction
hence we can separately consider energies in these three directions
for a tri atomic linear molecule
in addition to this eneergy there is also rotaional energy along two directions ( along its axis rotation is negligeble)

so now there sre 5 ways of storing energy
also there is vibrational energy in addition to these to energies
which can also exist in two ways ( one due to first two molecules and other due to last two molecules)
hence there are seven ways of storing energy
theis is the degree of freedom of the given gas

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