Consider an oxygen molecule (O2) rotating in the xy plane about the z axis. The axis passes through the center of the molecule, perpendicular to its length. The mass of each oxygen atom is 2.66 x 10^-26 kg, and at room temperature the average separation between the two atoms is d=1.21 x 10^-10 m (the atoms are treated as point masses). a) Calculate the moment of inertia of the molecule about the z axis. b) If the angular speed of the molecule about the z axis 4.60 x 10^12 rad/s, what is its rotational kinetic energy?
The answer for a) is supposed to be 1.95x10^-46 kg*m^2
The answer for b) is supposed to be 2.06x10^-21 J