ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Infrared photodissociation spectroscopy

Do you remember when we learned about light and how it helps us see things? Well, there are some kinds of light that we can't see with our eyes, like infrared light.

Infrared photodissociation spectroscopy is a fancy way of saying that we use infrared light to study molecules and how they behave. It's like taking a picture of the molecules with invisible light!

When we shine the infrared light on the molecules, they start to vibrate and move around. Scientists can measure how much energy it takes to make the molecules do this by looking at how the light is absorbed.

By learning more about how the molecules respond to the infrared light, we can figure out what they are made of and how they react with other things.

So, infrared photodissociation spectroscopy is a cool tool that helps scientists study tiny things we can't see with our eyes by using special light that we can't see either.