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Notes: This paper is concerned with the peak wave number of very strong absorption bands in infrared spectra of molecular liquids. It is well known that the peak wave number can differ depending on how the spectrum is measured. It can be different, for example, in a transmission spectrum and in an attenuated total reflection spectrum. This difference can be removed by transforming both spectra to the real, n, and imaginary, k, refractive index spectra, because both spectra yield the same k spectrum. However, the n and k spectra can be transformed to spectra of any other intensity quantity, and the peak wave numbers of strong bands may differ by up to 6 cm−1 in the spectra of the different quantities. The question which then arises is "which infrared peak wave number is the correct one to use in the comparison of infrared wave numbers of molecular liquids with wave numbers in other spectra?" For example, infrared wave numbers in the gas and liquid phase are compared to observe differences between the two phases. Of equal importance, the wave numbers of peaks in infrared and Raman spectra of liquids are compared to determine whether the infrared-active and Raman-active vibrations coincide, and thus are likely to be the same, or are distinct. This question is explored in this paper by presenting the experimental facts for different intensity quantities. The intensity quantities described are macroscopic properties of the liquid, specifically the absorbance, attenuated total reflectance, imaginary refractive index, k, imaginary dielectric constant, ε″, and molar absorption coefficient, Em, and one microscopic property of a molecule in the liquid, specifically the imaginary molar polarizability, αm″, which is calculated under the approximation of the Lorentz local field. The main experimental observations are presented for the strongest band in the infrared spectrum of each of the liquids methanol, chlorobenzene, dichloromethane, and acetone. Particular care was paid to wave number calibration of both infrared and Raman spectra. Theoretical arguments indicate that the peak wave number in the αm″ spectrum is the correct one to use, because it is the only one that reflects the properties of molecules in their local environment in the liquid free from predictable long-range resonant dielectric effects. However, it is found that the comparison with Raman wave numbers is confused when the anisotropic local intermolecular forces and configuration in the liquid are significant. In these cases, the well known noncoincidence of the isotropic and anisotropic Raman scattering is observed, and the same factors lead to noncoincidence of the infrared and Raman bands. © 1998 American Institute of Physics.