Contrary to the classical equipartition theorem, at room temperature, the vibrational motion of molecules typically makes negligible contributions to the heat capacity. This is because these degrees of freedom are frozen because the spacing between the energy eigenvalues exceeds the energy corresponding to ambient temperatures (). In the following table such degrees of freedom are disregarded because of their low effect on total energy. Then only the translational and rotational degrees of freedom contribute, in equal amounts, to the heat capacity ratio. This is why =}} for monatomic gases and =}} for diatomic gases at room temperature. | Contrary to the classical equipartition theorem, at room temperature, the vibrational motion of molecules typically makes negligible contributions to the heat capacity. This is because these degrees of freedom are frozen because the spacing between the energy eigenvalues exceeds the energy corresponding to ambient temperatures (). In the following table such degrees of freedom are disregarded because of their low effect on total energy. Then only the translational and rotational degrees of freedom contribute, in equal amounts, to the heat capacity ratio. This is why =}} for monatomic gases and =}} for diatomic gases at room temperature. |