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Chemistry LibreTexts

Dihedral Angle

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A dihedral angle or torsional angle (symbol: θ) is the angle between two bonds originating from different atoms in a Newman projection.

eg: staggered conformation of ethane

dihedralangle.png

The angle between any blue C-H bond (C-H1, C-H2, C-H3) and any red C-H bond (C-H4, C-H5, C-H6) is a dihedral angle. Thus, the angle between C-H1 and C-H4, which is 60º, is a dihedral angle.

Geometrically, a dihedral angle is an angle between two intersecting planes. For example, the dihedral angle between C-H1 and C-H4 in the above Newman projection is the angle between the plane bisecting C-H1 and that bisecting C-H4, both perpendicular to the plane of the screen.

see also bond angle


This page titled Dihedral Angle is shared under a All Rights Reserved (used with permission) license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Gamini Gunawardena via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform.

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