Dynamics of the simplest chlorine atom reaction: An experimental and theoretical study

Angular distributions and time-of-flight spectra for the reaction Cl + H₂ → HCl + H obtained from a high-resolution, crossed-molecular beam experiment were compared to differential cross sections calculated by both converged quantum mechanical scattering and quasi-classical trajectory methods. Good agreement was found between the experimental results and each theoretical prediction. The results demonstrate that excellent agreement can be obtained between state-of-the-art simulations and experiments for the detailed dynamical properties of this prototype chlorine atom reaction.