Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-chemistry-a-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2025/paper-1/a3/a/i/solution

For one normal mode, the fundamental is , with other modes initially in their ground levels. In the linear-dipole harmonic approximation, the transition moment is nonzero for , so a vibrational fundamental is normally much stronger than its overtones, provided the mode has vibrational infrared activity.

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