Does a monatomic atom have rotational motion?

[rachaeld_1D]

For a monatomic atom, would the total motional contribution to the internal energy be the sum of the rotational and translational energy? Or would it just be the translational energy because a single molecule doesn't store much energy as it spins by itself?

[Sanmeet Atwal 1D]

I'm not entirely positive but I believe you're right because molecules have rotational and translational energy while atoms only have translational energy!

[Niharika Reddy 1D]

Monatomic gases don't have any rotational energy because they have nothing around which to rotate, so yes, we only account for their translational energy since their rotational energy is zero.

[Justin Le 2I]

To add onto the previous point, each axis (x,y,z) contributes 1/2RT of translational energy. That is why the molar internal energy of a monatonic atom is 3/2RT.