[thao.l.dang]

I have an IR spectrum of an unknown compound. In order to identify the functional groups, I'm referencing a document given by my university, but the units are in cm-1. My IR is taken in ppm and Hz, and I am converting to find the wavenumber but end up getting a very small number.

ie. peak = 322.8 Hz
wavenumber = 1/λ = ν/c
322.8/3.0 x 10^10
= a very very small number.

the areas of interest are in the thousands cm-1

Please tell me what I'm doing wrong and how I can interpret this IR spectrum from Hz.
Thanks! much appreciated!

[Corribus]

Are you sure the units are Hz?  Even radio waves are in the thousands of Hz.  IR light is 10¹² - 10¹⁴ Hz or thereabout.

Look here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:EM_Spectrum_Properties_edit.svg