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7: Mass Spectrometry

  • Page ID
    556140
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    • 7.1: Mass Spectrometers
      A mass spectrometer has three essential needs: a means for producing ions, in this case (mostly) singly charged atoms; a means for separating these ions in space or in time by their mass-to-charge ratios; and a means for counting the number of ions for each mass-to-charge ratio.
    • 7.2: Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer
      An inductively coupled plasma in ICP is formed by ionizing a flowing stream of argon gas, producing argon ions and electrons. The sample is introduced into the plasma where the high operating temperature of 6000–8000 K is sufficient to atomize and ionize the sample. In ICP-MS we use the plasma as a source of ions that we can send to a mass spectrometer for analysis.
    • 7.3: Molecular Mass Spectra
      In Chapter 11 we considered the use of mass spectrometry in the analysis of atoms. In this chapter we turn our attention to the use of mass spectrometry for the analysis of molecules.
    • 7.4: Mass Spectrometers
      A mass spectrometer has four essential elements: a means for introducing the sample to the instrument, a means for generating a mixture of ions, a means for separating the ions, and a means for counting the ions. In Chapter 20.2 we introduced some of the most important ways to generate ions. In this section we turn our attention to sample inlet systems and to separating and counting ions.
    • 7.5: Ion Sources
      Since a mass spectrum shows the relative abundance of ions with different mass-to-charge ratios, a mass spectrometer must include a way to generate ions. More specifically, it needs a method that generates the initial ion as it, once formed, will undergo fragmentation without additional help from the analyst. In this section we consider several common ion sources.
    • 7.6: Applications of Molecular Mass Spectrometry
      In a qualitative analysis our interest is in determining the identity of a substance of interest to us. By itself, mass spectrometry is a powerful tool for determining the identity of pure compounds. The analysis of mixtures, however, is possible if we use a mass spectrometer as both a qualitative and quantitative detector for a separation technique, such as gas chromatography, or if we string together two or more mass analyzers in sequence.


    This page titled 7: Mass Spectrometry is shared under a not declared license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Kathryn Davis.