A detailed study, using molecular dynamics, of O-2 desorption from Ag(110) following a collision with "hot＇＇ oxygen atoms is presented. The interactions in the system are described by semiempirical model potentials. The variation of desorption yield and desorbate angular and energy distributions as a function of "hot＇＇ atom energy and surface coverage is examined. The computational results clearly show that the collision induced desorption, following photo-induced dissociation of O-2, is a plausible explanation of the experimental findings. The coverage dependence of collision induced desorption cross section and the angular distribution of desorbates agree well with the corresponding measured quantities. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S0021-9606(00)70906-8].