Question: how do particles vibrates

Nick Wright answered on 13 Mar 2014:

Particles can vibrate in lots of ways, either as a single particle, or an atom in a molecule, or an atom in a lattice of other atoms that makes up something solid. In each case the atom vibrates when it is given energy (heated up), but each one needs a different amount of energy and each vibrates in a different way. The properties of each material are different and it is one of the jobs of some scientists to work out how different materials vibrate so we can use the right materials for different building tasks, like aeroplanes or skyscrapers.