Degrees of Freedom for a Triatomic Molecule

[vineroon]

Homework Statement

A triatomic molecule consists of 3 atoms arranged along a straight line. The molecules can
translate and rotate but not vibrate. How many degrees of freedom are associated with this molecule?

Homework Equations

Molar Heat Capacity of Gases:
C_v = f/2(R)

f - degrees of freedom

The Attempt at a Solution

I figured that a triatomic gas would have the same translational motion as that of a monoatomic and diatomic molecule and it would have perhaps more axes of rotational motion than diatomic molecules. And from seeing that diatomic molecules have 5 degrees of freedom after ignoring vibrational motion, I am assuming that you can drop vibrational motion for triatomic molecules as well.

Would I be correct in concluding that a triatomic molecule has 6 degrees of freedom? I came to this conclusion by one more rotational axis. I'm not sure this is correct, however.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[vineroon]

Update:

I don't know if this is correct, but my guess is that there are 5 degrees of rotational and translational freedom. This would be because they are arranged in a straight line.

If they were arranged in a V-shape (such as H₂O gas), the degrees of freedom would be 6, correct? If they are in a straight line it is only 5 because rotation on the axis of the molecules would have to be disregarded. However, since the V-shape offsets one of the molecules, there could be an extra axis of rotation.

I would appreciate it greatly if someone could affirm this.

 

[rajascientist]

Yeah it is 6

http://arasaraja.blogspot.com"

Update:

I don't know if this is correct, but my guess is that there are 5 degrees of rotational and translational freedom. This would be because they are arranged in a straight line.

If they were arranged in a V-shape (such as H₂O gas), the degrees of freedom would be 6, correct? If they are in a straight line it is only 5 because rotation on the axis of the molecules would have to be disregarded. However, since the V-shape offsets one of the molecules, there could be an extra axis of rotation.

I would appreciate it greatly if someone could affirm this.