Ions And Mass Spectrometer

Question 1

What is a mass spectrometer?

Answer 1

An instrument used to determine the masses of incredibly small particles.

Question 2

What is an ion?

Answer 2

an atom or molecule with a net electric charge due to the loss or gain of one or more electrons.

Question 3

In a neutral atom the number of electrons equals the number of protons. When an atom gains or loses ______, ions are formed. Ions are electrically charged and can be either positive(_____) or negative(______).

Answer 3

Electrons
Cation
Anion

Question 4

Ionization

Answer 4

Sample of atoms injected into the vacuum chamber. An electron gun bombards the sample with electrons knocking some from the atoms creating cations.

Question 5

Acceleration

Answer 5

Negatively charged plates produce an electric field that accelerates the ions towards the electromagnet.

Question 6

Deflection

Answer 6

A magnetic field deflects the ions. The extent of deflection depends on the mass of the ions. The greater its mass the less it is deflected. By varying the field strength, different ions will pass through the collection slit.

Question 7

Detection

Answer 7

A tiny current is produced when the cation reaches the detector. A recorder counts the number of signals and represents this as peaks on a graph