Question

The distance between the carbon atom and the oxygen atom in a carbon monoxide molecule is $ 1.1\overset{\text{o}}{\mathop{\text{A}}}\, $ . Given, mass of carbon atom is 12 amu and mass of oxygen atom is 16 amu. Calculate the position of the centre of mass of the carbon monoxide molecule:

• A. $ 6.3\overset{\text{o}}{\mathop{\text{A}}}\, $ from the carbon atom
• B. $ 1\overset{\text{o}}{\mathop{\text{A}}}\, $ from the oxygen atom
• C. $ 0.63\overset{\text{o}}{\mathop{\text{A}}}\, $ from the carbon atom
• D. $ 0.12\overset{\text{o}}{\mathop{\text{A}}}\, $ from the oxygen atom
• E. $ 0.16\overset{\text{o}}{\mathop{\text{A}}}\, $ from the carbon atom

Answer 1

Answer: (C)

Let $ {{x}_{cm}} $ be distance of centre of mass from C-atom
$ {{x}_{cm}}=\frac{{{m}_{1}}{{x}_{1}}+{{m}_{2}}{{x}_{2}}}{{{m}_{1}}+{{m}_{2}}}=\frac{12\times 0+16\times 1.1}{12+16} $
$ =0.63\overset{\text{o}}{\mathop{\text{A}}}\, $