Principal moments of inertia

{
  "id": "MLC-T-CHM-009472",
  "term": "Principal moments of inertia",
  "field": "Chemistry",
  "definition": "The moments of inertia of a body about its three mutually perpendicular principal axes, chosen so that all products of inertia vanish, and conventionally ordered IA ≤ IB ≤ IC. They determine a molecule's rotational energy levels and classify it as a linear, symmetric, spherical or asymmetric top. For a linear molecule, two of them are equal and nonzero, while the third is zero.",
  "subject": "Physical and Biophysical Chemistry",
  "references": [
    "Green Book, 2nd ed., p. 23 (https://goldbook.iupac.org/files/pdf/green_book_2ed.pdf)"
  ],
  "url": "https://mlchart.com/terminology/chemistry/principal-moments-of-inertia/"
}