Radio wavelengths for carbon monoxide (how to find atomic number

[leonne]

Homework Statement

...Consider a diffuse gas cloud that contains carbon monoxide (CO) molecules...
What are the radio wavelengths (in cm) and frequencies (in GHz = gigahertz
= 109 Hz) corresponding to transitions between the ground state, the first excited
state, and the second excited state?

Homework Equations

$$\lambda$$ =(911A/Z²)(1/n-1/m)^-1

The Attempt at a Solution

I just need to know what to put for Z it says that Z is the atomic number and this it the only formula that seems to fix, but i am reading that there is no atomic number for compounds so any idea what i should do ? Should i cal the wavelength for carbon and for oxygen than add them up?
thanks

 

[mark726]

Hello! To calculate the wavelengths and frequencies for transitions between the different energy states of CO molecules, you can use the Rydberg formula for calculating the wavelengths of spectral lines:

\frac{1}{\lambda} = R \left(\frac{1}{n_1^2} - \frac{1}{n_2^2} \right)

Where R is the Rydberg constant, n1 and n2 are the initial and final energy levels respectively, and lambda is the wavelength.

To calculate the frequencies, you can use the equation

\nu = \frac{c}{\lambda}

Where c is the speed of light.

For CO molecules, the atomic number (Z) would be the number of protons in the carbon atom, which is 6. Therefore, you can directly use the Rydberg formula to calculate the wavelengths and frequencies for transitions between the different energy levels of CO molecules.

Hope this helps! Let me know if you have any other questions.