Solid angle corresponds to one unit of area on the unit sphere surrounding the apex, so an object that blocks all rays from the apex would cover a number of steradians equal to the total surface area of the unit sphere, formula_1. Solid angles can also be measured in squares of angular measures such as degrees, minutes, and seconds. A small object nearby may subtend the same solid angle as a larger object farther away. For example, although the Moon is much smaller than the Sun, it is also much closer to Earth. Indeed, as viewed from any point on Earth, both
Degrees of freedom (physics and chemistry) for 3 degrees of freedom. In addition, the molecule has two rotational degrees of motion and one vibrational mode. The rotations occur around the two axes perpendicular to the line between the two atoms. The rotation around the atom–atom bond is not a physical rotation. This yields, for a diatomic molecule, a decomposition of: For a general, non-linear molecule, all 3 rotational degrees of freedom are considered, resulting in the decomposition: which means that an -atom molecule has vibrational degrees of freedom for . In special cases, such as adsorbed large molecules, the rotational degrees of freedom can be limited