Molecular geometry that corresponds to the true minimum on the respective potential energy surface. While information relating to the equilibrium geometry is provided by calculations within the
adiabatic approximation (minimization of the total energy with respect to any independent geometrical parameter), various experiments yield some effective geometries for the molecule which are averaged over molecular vibrations.
Source:
Cite as:
IUPAC. Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 2nd ed. (the "Gold Book"). Compiled by A. D. McNaught and A. Wilkinson. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford (1997). XML on-line corrected version: http://goldbook.iupac.org (2006-) created by M. Nic, J. Jirat, B. Kosata; updates compiled by A. Jenkins. ISBN 0-9678550-9-8.
doi:10.1351/goldbook.