The resolution of a mass spectrometer depends on the efficiency of separating ions with different ion masses. The mass of an atom is approximated to the sum of the masses of protons and neutrons inside, considering the masses of protons and neutrons as equal. However, the masses of the proton (1.6726 × 10−24 g) and neutron (1.6749 × 10−24 g) are not truly equal. There is a minor error in the expression of atomic masses relative to the simplest atom of hydrogen. For...

Mass spectrometry is an important technique for the identification of pure compounds. However, it has some limitations for the analysis of complex mixtures, often due to excessive fragmentation making the spectrum too complicated to decipher. Mass spectrometry can be combined with suitable separation methods in sequence, forming hyphenated methods, which are useful in the analysis of complex mixtures.
GC–MS is a powerful hyphenated method commonly used in forensics and environmental...

An unknown compound can be established by identifying the molecular ion peak in the mass spectrum. The molecular ion peak is often weak or absent due to the predominance of fragmentation in high-energy electron beams. In such cases, a low-energy electron beam can be used to scan the spectrum to enhance the intensity of the molecular ion peak. Additionally, chemical ionization, field ionization, and desorption ionization spectra are used to obtain a relatively intense molecular ion peak.
To...

The mass analyzer is a crucial component of the mass spectrometer. In the ionization chamber, the vaporized sample is bombarded with a high-energy electron beam to generate a radical cation and further fragment into neutral molecules, radicals, and cations. A series of negatively charged accelerator plates accelerate the cations into the mass analyzer. The mass analyzer separates ions according to their mass-to-charge (m/z) ratios and then directs them to the detector. The common types of mass...

A mass spectrum is the graphical representation of the relative abundance of the charged fragments in an analyte plotted against their mass-to-charge ratio (m/z). The plot's x axis represents the ratio of the mass of the charged fragment to the elementary charge it carries. The y axis of the plot represents the relative abundance of each charged species. The relative abundance is calculated from the signal intensity of each charged species recorded at the detector. The most intense signal...

Tandem mass spectrometry is a technique that uses multiple mass analyzers in series to obtain a higher selectivity and signal-to-noise ratio for the analyte. Instruments with multiple analyzers separated by an interaction cell enable secondary fragmentation and selected study of the fragment ions.
Secondary fragmentations occur in the interaction cell and can be induced by various factors. Fragmentation induced by collision with inert gases, such as N2, Ar, He, etc., is called collision-induced...