Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-chemistry-a-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2025/paper-1/a4/d/solution

The out-of-plane displacements in the wag transform as , hence as . A one-quantum combination of two distinct normal modes transforms as the product of their irreducible representations. The observed feature satisfies
A combination of the wag with an stretch has symmetry and can absorb through . In contrast, has no electric-dipole component in and is forbidden in the stated symmetry model. The missing feature near therefore identifies the stretch as .
The completed assignments are
The allowed combination obtains intensity through anharmonic/dipole-coupling terms; a purely separable harmonic model with a strictly linear dipole has no combination bands. The argument uses both the observed combination and the selection rule: absence of a feature by itself would not generally prove a forbidden symmetry.[ref]

New to topics? Read the docs here!