Kiertymäkulma

Kiertymäkulma, also known as twist angle or dihedral angle in English, refers to the angle between two intersecting planes or lines. In physics and chemistry, it is often used to describe the relative orientation of atoms or groups of atoms within a molecule. This angle is crucial for understanding molecular structure, conformation, and reactivity. For example, the rotation around a single bond in a molecule leads to different possible kiertymäkulma values, each representing a distinct conformation. These conformations can have different energies and thus affect the molecule's properties.

In crystallography, kiertymäkulma can describe the angle between crystallographic planes or directions. In engineering, it might be used to define the angle of twist in a shaft subjected to torsional stress, indicating how much one end of the shaft has rotated relative to the other. The measurement of kiertymäkulma typically involves defining reference points or planes. In molecular contexts, it's often determined through spectroscopic methods like NMR or X-ray crystallography, or calculated using computational chemistry techniques. The concept is fundamental to understanding how molecules interact with each other and their environment.