Many properties of matter such as fluidity, vaporization and rates of chemical reactions, indicate that molecular motion must be occurring, and that the freedom of motion increases in going from the solid to the liquid to the gaseous state. The concepts of translational, rotational, and vibrational molecular motions allow the interpretation of the observed properties. The use of animation and dynamic models makes clear how the observed properties depend on the types of motion occurring at the molecular level.
Collaborator: Prof. J. Arthur Campbell, Harvey Mudd College, Claremont, California