Animation of the Vibrations of Formaldehyde

Vibration Time step (fs) No. of points Frequency (cm-1) Description Notes
Vibration 1 0.50  61 1099.0 Rocking Both halves of the mode are identical
Vibration 2 0.50 57 1167.5 Out of plane Both halves of the mode are identical
Vibration 3 0.50 49 1375.1 Scissors Although notionally asymmetric, both halves look the same
Vibration 4 0.25 74 1840.3 C=O stretch The two halves are distinctly asymmetrical - the compression half is much stiffer than the stretch half
Vibration 5 0.25 52 2619.8 C-H unsymmetric stretch Both halves of the mode are identical
Vibration 6 0.25 51 2674.2 C-H symmetrical stretch The two halves are distinctly asymmetrical - the compression half is much stiffer than the stretch half
           

 

For vibrations, the cycle time is (nc)-1 seconds. where n is the vibrational frequency in cm-1, and c is the speed of light in cm.sec-1. For vibration 1, the cycle-time is (1099.0*2.998*1010)-1 seconds = (3.29*1013)-1 seconds = 30.4 fs.  61 points of 0.5 fs per step is 30 fs total