Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 19, 2026

An Analog Macroscopic Technique for Studying Molecular Hydrodynamic Processes in Dense Gases and Liquids
Published on: December 4, 2017
Competing Dynamical Mechanisms in Inelastic Collisions of H + HF
Pablo G Jambrina1, Lola González-Sánchez1, Jesús Aldegunde1
1Departamento de Química Física, Facultad de Química , University of Salamanca , 37008 Salamanca , Spain.
Abstract:
The dynamics of inelastic collisions between HF and H has been investigated in detail by means of time-independent quantum mechanical calculations on the LWA-78 potential energy surface ( Li , G. ; et al. J. Chem. Phys. 2007 , 127 , 174302 ). Reaction probabilities, differential cross sections, and three-vector correlations have been calculated and analyzed. Our results show that there are two competing collision mechanisms that correlate with low and high impact parameters and show very different stereodynamical preferences. The mechanism promoted by high impact parameters is the only one present at low collision energies. We also observe the presence of an apparent threshold in the inelastic cross section for relatively high initial HF rotational quantum numbers, which is associated with the larger energy difference between adjacent rotational quantum states with increasing rotation.
Related Concept Videos
Elastic Collisions: Introduction
Elastic Collisions: Case Study
Types Of Collisions - I
Types of Collisions - II
Impact
When particles with different initial velocities collide, they induce deformation by applying equal and opposite impulses. At the point of maximum deformation, the particles move together with...
Hydrogen Bonds

