Past exam of the chemistry A course of the University of Cambridge 2022 Paper 2 A8 a ii Solution 2026-10-20
For independent internal rotational states, the rotational factor in the many-molecule partition function is . The indistinguishability factor has already been included in the translational part and is not applied a second time to the internal factor. ThusA nonlinear rigid rotor has three rotational quadratic degrees of freedom; in the high-temperature limit, . ThereforeThis is the rotational entropy contribution, with the appropriate rotational symmetry number already inside . It has no ideal-gas pressure dependence.