Molecular Symmetry and Group Theory

The new edition of this best-selling textbook addresses the difficulties that can arise with the mathematics that underpins the study of symmetry, and acknowledges that group theory can be a complex concept for students to grasp. Molecular Symmetry and Group Theory is based around a series of programmes that help students learn at their own pace and enable them to understand the subject fully. Readers are taken through a series of carefully constructed exercises, designed to simplify the mathematics and give them a full understanding of how this relates to the chemistry. The second edition has been revised and expanded and includes a new chapter on the projection operator method. This is used to calculate the form of the normal modes of vibration of a molecule and the normalised wave functions of hybrid orbitals or molecular orbitals. Features: * A concise, gentle introduction to symmetry and group theory * Takes a programmed learning approach * New material on projection operators, and the calculation of normal modes of vibration and normalised wave functions of orbitals.