Mass Spectroscopy

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What is Mass Spectroscopy?

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Mass Spectroscopy is an analytical technique used to measure the mass-to-charge ratio of ions. It helps in identifying the composition of a sample by determining the mass of its molecules.

Front

What does a mass spectrum represent?

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A mass spectrum represents the distribution of ions by their mass-to-charge ratio (m/z) and shows the relative abundance of each ion.

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What are isotopes?

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Isotopes are variants of a chemical element that have the same number of protons but different numbers of neutrons, resulting in different mass numbers.

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How is relative atomic mass calculated?

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Relative atomic mass is calculated by taking the weighted average of the masses of an element's isotopes, based on their natural abundance.

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What does the height of peaks in a mass spectrum indicate?

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The height of peaks in a mass spectrum indicates the relative abundance of each isotope present in the sample.

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What is the significance of the base peak in a mass spectrum?

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The base peak is the tallest peak in a mass spectrum and represents the most abundant ion, serving as a reference point for other peaks.

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What is the difference between mass number and atomic mass?

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Mass number is the total number of protons and neutrons in an atom's nucleus, while atomic mass is the weighted average mass of an element's isotopes.

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What is the role of a mass spectrometer?

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A mass spectrometer is an instrument that ionizes chemical species and sorts the ions based on their mass-to-charge ratio, allowing for the analysis of the sample.

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What is natural abundance in the context of isotopes?

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Natural abundance refers to the relative proportions of different isotopes of an element found in nature.

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How can mass spectrometry be used in identifying unknown compounds?

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Mass spectrometry can identify unknown compounds by analyzing their mass spectrum and comparing it to known spectra in a database.