system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
I have read group theory is used to study a molecules symmetry but why would you want to know its symmetry in the first place?
gpt
The symmetries of a molecule affect its chemical and physical properties. For example water, H2O, is slightly asymmetric (looks like ^H O ^H ), which leads to it freezing in a crystal lattice instead of staying a fluid, and it happens in way higher temperatures than it otherwise would. Contrast CO2, which is symmetric (Looks like O C O ), leading to the fact that it's a gas in room temperature and is very hard to turn into a solid or liquid.