Find the Frequency of Infrared Radiation with Wavelength 160.432 µm

[stacker]

Homework Statement

What is the frequency (in Hz) of infared radiation that has a wavelength of 160.432 micrometers? The speed of light is 3.00 x 10⁸ m/s.

Homework Equations

Speed of light = wavelength x frequency

Speed of light = 3.00 x 10^8 m/s

The Attempt at a Solution

I know that the speed of light is equal to wavelength multiplied by frequency and that this question is basically just plug and chug. But I keep getting the wrong answer. What I did is I converted 160.432 micrometers into meters, which is 1.60432 x 10^-4. Then I divided 3 x 10⁸ (m/s) by 1.60432 x 10^-4 (m). I get the value of 1.86995 x 10¹². I convert this value to nanometers: 1.86 x 10²¹. This is the wrong answer! What did I do wrong?

 

[diazona]

What units are missing from your value 1.86995 x 10¹²? Figure that out and you may notice where you went wrong.

 

[stacker]

What units are missing from your value 1.86995 x 10¹²? Figure that out and you may notice where you went wrong.

I think I figured it out: [3 x 10⁸ (m/s)/ 160.432 micrometers] x [10⁶ micrometers/ 1 meter] = 1.869951132 x 10^12

Could you reply back and check if this is the right answer because I think I have only one more shot at getting this right on my online homework.

 

[diazona]

Again, you're missing the units from your answer. But assuming the missing unit is Hz (as the problem requests), you seem to have done it correctly.

 

[stacker]

Again, you're missing the units from your answer. But assuming the missing unit is Hz (as the problem requests), you seem to have done it correctly.

I went ahead and checked it. I got it right. Thank you.

 

[mikelepore]

What I did is I converted 160.432 micrometers into meters

Such a conversion adds another possible occasion to make a mistake. I would enter 160.432 X 10^-6 into the calculator.