Classical Calculations of H2O Rotational Excitation in Energetic Atom-Molecule Collisions

Classical rotational excitation probabilities for collisions of three atomic species with H₂O have been calculated using a Monte Carlo procedure. The rigid rotor approximation for H₂O is employed together with hard sphere scattering potentials permitting the excitation in a given collision to be calculated analytically. The results are applicable to high energy $\text{(≥ 1\hspace{0.17em}}\mathrm{eV})$ collisions. A procedure for constructing differential rotational excitation cross sections is presented.