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1MileCrash
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Homework Statement
An amonia NH3 molecule in the figure has three hydrogen atoms, which form a equilateral triangle as the base of a pyramid. At the top of the pyramid is the nitrogen atom.
The length between any two hydrogen atoms is 9.4x10^-11, the length from nitrogen to any of the hydrogen atoms is 10.14x10^-11.
The mass ratio of nitrogen to hydrogen is 13.9.
The xaxis runs through the bottom of the pyramid, one of the points lies on it. The y-axis runs through the center of the pyramid vertically.
Homework Equations
The Attempt at a Solution
I am getting a close answer, but off enough to think I'm doing something wrong.
x center of mass is 0, by symmetry/intuition.
For y, what i did was try to find how high nitrogen is with the pythagorean theorem. I got that nitrogen should be at a height of 3.8x10^-11 along y axis.
I multiplied this number by 13.9, then divided by 16.9.
My result is 3.125x10^-11 for the ycom, but the correct answer is 3.08x10^-11. Why am I off by that amount?