Molecular Interaction and Linewidth of Asymmetric Molecule SO2. I. SO2–N2 Collisions

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Abstract
The linewidth of the 91,9→82,6 transition of sulfur dioxide broadened by nitrogen has been measured at different pressures using a double modulation video spectrograph. The measured linewidth for the SO2–N2 collision is 4.19 Mc/mm. The hard‐sphere collision diameter corresponding to this is 5.68 Å as compared to the kinetic collision diameter of 4.0 Å. The result has been interpreted on the basis of Anderson's theory assuming a dipole—quadrupole interaction to be responsible for the width. The quadrupole moment of nitrogen so evaluated is equal to 2.79×10—26 esu. The temperature dependence of the linewidth parameter has also been calculated and it has been found that for the temperature range 340°—600°K, Δν varies as T—0·78 and for the temperature range 195°—340°K, Δν varies as T—0·86.