Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Rice-Ramsperger-Kassel-Marcus

  • Living reference work entry
  • Latest version View entry history
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Astrobiology

  • 1 Accesses

Synonyms

RRKM

Definition

Rice-Ramsperger-Kassel-Marcus (or simply RRKM) is a chemical kinetics theory allowing the estimation of unimolecular reaction rates from a few parameters of the potential energy surface. The RRKM theory is an improved form of the Rice-Ramsperger-Kassel (RRK) theory in which the rate an excited reactant molecule breaks down is treated as a function of the energy it contains. The RRKM theory was developed from the RRK theory by taking Eyring’s transition state theory, and the way the various normal-mode vibrations and rotations contribute to reaction, into account. The RRKM theory assumes that the rate is proportional to the number of ways of distributing the energy among the internal degrees of freedom of the reactant, in such a manner that the critical energy is localized in one particular degree of freedom. It can be a powerful tool for studying gas-phase molecular reactions, such as those that occur in planetary atmospheres or in the interstellar medium.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Institutional subscriptions

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Earth-Life Science Institute (ELSI), Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo, Japan

    Henderson James Cleaves

  2. Blue Marble Space Institute of Science, Washington, DC, USA

    Henderson James Cleaves

  3. Center for Chemical Evolution, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Henderson James Cleaves

Authors
  1. Henderson James Cleaves
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Bordeaux, University of Bordeaux, Pessac CX, France

    Muriel Gargaud

  2. Department of Astronomy, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, USA

    William M. Irvine

  3. Centro Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa, Univ. Autónoma de Madrid Cantoblanco, Madrid, Spain

    Ricardo Amils

  4. Analytical-, Environm., Geo-Chemistry, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, VUB, Brussels, Belgium

    Philippe Claeys

  5. Earth-Life Science Institute, Tokyo Institute of Technology, WASHINGTON, DC, USA

    Henderson James Cleaves

  6. Radio Astronomy, Paris Observatory, Paris, France

    Maryvonne Gerin

  7. Observatoire de Paris-Meudon, Meudon, France

    Daniel Rouan

  8. International Space Science Institute, Bern, Bern, Switzerland

    Tilman Spohn

  9. Centre Francois Viète, Universite de Nantes, Nantes, France

    Stéphane Tirard

  10. Innovaxiom, Paris CX, France

    Michel Viso

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2022 Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Cleaves, H.J. (2022). Rice-Ramsperger-Kassel-Marcus. In: Gargaud, M., et al. Encyclopedia of Astrobiology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_1393-4

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_1393-4

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-27833-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-27833-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Physics and AstronomyReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Chemistry, Materials and Physics

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Chapter history

  1. Latest

    Rice-Ramsperger-Kassel-Marcus
    Published:
    30 December 2022

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_1393-4

  2. Original

    Rice-Ramsperger-Kassel-Marcus
    Published:
    17 April 2015

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_1393-3

Search

Navigation