The sound absorption coefficients have been measured between 8 and 130 kilocycles for the five triatomic gases CO2, N2O, COS, CS2, and SO2. The frequencies of maximal absorption for these molecules were found to be at 20, 153, 287, 379, and 1040 kc, respectively. It was found that for the linear molecules CO2, N2O, COS, and CS2 a linear relationship exists between the maximal absorption coefficients and the frequencies at which these maxima occur. It was also found (1) that the lower the fundamental frequencies of vibration of the four linear molecules the higher are the acoustical frequencies of maximal absorption, i.e., the shorter are the lifetimes of the energy quanta; and (2) that the sonically activated fundamentals and harmonics of each of the above linear molecules commute and have the same lifetime, with the possible exception of CO2. From the experimental data it was possible to calculate the reaction rates, probabilities of removal of vibrational quanta, the numbers of collisions necessary to remove the quanta of energy, and the numbers of quantum transitions per second. In addition to the above data, a technique is presented which enables one to find the frequencies of maximal absorption for gases when these frequencies occur in a range beyond the scope of the apparatus.