{"id":442053,"date":"2026-02-24T00:16:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T00:16:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/442053\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T00:16:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T00:16:07","slug":"flat-molecules-arent-actually-flat-blame-quantum-physics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/442053\/","title":{"rendered":"Flat Molecules Aren\u2019t Actually Flat. Blame Quantum Physics"},"content":{"rendered":"

Any concept with the term \u201cquantum\u201d slapped on top rarely means exactly what it\u2019s referring to. There are always twists, turns, and conflicting interpretations that complicate things, but the answers that do arise often bring out the most fundamental truths about the universe.<\/p>\n

In a recent Physical Review Letters<\/a> paper, physicists at Goethe University in Germany take this dynamic to a whole new level, specifically for the geometry of complex atomic structures. Molecules like formic acid<\/a> are thought to be \u201cflat,\u201d as their atoms lie on a single plane.\u00a0But as the new research demonstrates, quantum mechanical effects make it so that they\u2019re actually never flat\u2014the tiny particles vibrate ever so slightly, ultimately giving the molecule a three-dimensional structure.<\/p>\n

\u201cNature resists rigidity and forces even the simplest structures into the third dimension,\u201d the researchers noted in a statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n

High school chemistry? Yeah, forget it <\/p>\n

Traditional, textbook depictions of atoms and groups of atoms\u2014molecules\u2014typically show them as spherical objects connected with rods. This idea breaks down in the quantum world, where atomic nuclei are \u201cmore like vibrating clouds,\u201d explained Reinhard D\u00f6rner, the study\u2019s senior author and a physicist at Goethe University, in the statement.<\/p>\n

To be exact, atomic nuclei are zero-dimensional \u201cpoints\u201d without a determined position at the quantum level, since they\u2019re essentially \u201ca little bit everywhere,\u201d D\u00f6rner added.<\/p>\n

Assigning shapes to probabilities <\/p>\n

That said, scientists, for practical purposes, also often assume molecules have a fixed shape. A molecule\u2019s geometry determines its stability and reactivity, so it makes much more sense for researchers to work with a defined model as opposed to complex wave function equations for every single reaction.<\/p>\n

To a certain extent, scientists can identify specific angles at which atoms bind\u2014also technically probabilities, but predictions that have gone a long way in enabling chemical breakthroughs.<\/p>\n

When the flat thing isn\u2019t (as) flat <\/p>\n

The new study doesn\u2019t reject these predictions. Rather, its findings further nuance the role of quantum mechanical effects in molecular science\u2014a role that may have been overlooked thus far.<\/p>\n

For their experiments, the researchers investigated formic acid (formula HCOOH), a colorless, smelly substance used in agricultural miticides, hydrogen storage for energy sets, chromatography, and industrial production.<\/p>\n

\"FormicA cyclic dimer of formic acid, or two formic acid molecules joined together. \u00a9 J\u00fc via Wikimedia Commons <\/p>\n

The molecule is known to have a strictly planar shape, meaning its constituent atoms lie on a single, two-dimensional surface. This also makes the molecule fairly symmetrical on both sides. The researchers wanted to understand just how stable this \u201cflat\u201d shape really is.<\/p>\n

Tracking the quantum trembles <\/p>\n

To investigate, the team struck formic acid molecules with X-ray beams in a particle accelerator. When the molecule exploded from the excess energy, it released tiny electrons that the researchers used to mathematically reconstruct the original structure of formic acid in extreme detail.<\/p>\n

Notably, they flagged consistent jiggles in two hydrogen atoms (formic acid\u2019s formula is HCOOH) that would make the molecule \u201ceffectively three-dimensional at almost every moment,\u201d the researchers said.<\/p>\n

New insights into quantum molecules <\/p>\n

Such \u201cquantum trembling,\u201d as the team calls it, means that formic acid likely isn\u2019t as flat or symmetrical as was previously believed. Depending on the small vibrations of hydrogen, the molecule changes its \u201chandedness,\u201d or whether it slants toward the right or the left.<\/p>\n

\"VibrationA visualization of how quantum trembling influences the overall geometry of a formic acid molecule. \u00a9 D\u00f6rner et al., 2026 <\/p>\n

In chemistry, this asymmetry can change the properties of a molecule altogether. That said, the researchers don\u2019t believe this calls for a conceptual overhaul; the widespread use of formic acid itself serves as proof that scientists are well-versed in its behavior.<\/p>\n

Instead, quantum trembling suggests that handedness might not be as dependent on a static molecule\u2019s geometry as was previously believed.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs we were able to show using the example of formic acid, quantum trembling alone can generate two different mirror-image realities from a symmetrical molecule,\u201d D\u00f6rner said. \u201cOur findings with formic acid show that geometry is not a static property but a dynamic event.\u201d<\/p>\n

The study also exemplifies how quantum effects always seem to complicate what we think we know about things at the macroscopic level. These quantum effects are very real. So is our macroscopic reality. But the discrepancies between the two somehow don\u2019t break down our reality\u2014the reality we live in every day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Any concept with the term \u201cquantum\u201d slapped on top rarely means exactly what it\u2019s referring to. There are…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":442054,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[17500,2302,4418,90,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-442053","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-physics","8":"tag-chemistry","9":"tag-physics","10":"tag-quantum-physics","11":"tag-science","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom","14":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/442053","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=442053"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/442053\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/442054"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=442053"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=442053"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=442053"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}