Use of an Analog Computer for the Study of Chemical Reaction Dynamics

Abstract

A classical model calculation is performed of the dynamics of reactions of cesium atoms with alkyl iodides ranging from CH₃I through C₄H₉I. The integration of the five coupled equations of motion is performed on an EAI 680 analog computer. This approach is attractive because of its simplicity and speed. A linear collision model was employed to study the energy partitioning between the final degrees of freedom. The results indicate that the C–C stretching vibrations do not significantly participate in the partitioning while it can be inferred that slow bending vibrations and rotations probably do. The linear model is therefore insufficient to explain recent experimental results on the energy disposal. Three‐dimensional analog computer calculations for smaller systems seem quite feasible and promising.