Mass Spectrometry: How to Weigh an Atom

Links and Resources

Magnet Lab Resources

• What's a Spectrometer?
  As defined by a MagLab expert (audio file).
• Walk on the Wild Side: All About Comet Wild 2
  This is one wild and crazy comet. Get to know it a little better.
• The Geochemistry Program
  The Magnet Lab's Geochemistry Program was established in 1994
• What's in an Oil Drop? An Intro to Fourier Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance
  It may look like a simple black blob, but an oil drop is in fact a phenomenally complex mix of immense (relatively speaking) molecules called hydrocarbons. Using a type of mass spectrometry called FT-ICR, scientists can analyze oil and other macromolecules with amazing precision.
• Single Sector Mass Spectrometer Java Tutorial
  The single sector mass spectrometer is made with a single magnetic analyzer.
• Dual Sector Mass Spectrometer Java Tutorial
  The dual sector mass spectrometer has two analyzers – one magnetic, one electrostatic.
• Mass Spectra Java Tutorial
  The mass spectrum of a material, deduced using a machine called a mass spectrometer, reveals how many isotopes of a given element are to be found in the material. See here what these spectra look like and how they are useful.
• Fourier Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance Java Tutorial
  FT-ICR is a powerful type of mass spectrometry, co-invented by the Magnet Lab's Alan Marshall, particularly suited to identifying heavy molecules.
• Tools of the Trade – Atmospheric Pressure Photoionization (APPI)
  All mass spectrometers require the molecules to be in the gas phase and charged. In this technique, UV light photons are used to ionize sample molecules.
• Tools of the Trade – Electrospray ionization (ESI)
  This popular ionization technique works well with heavier compounds and is therefore often used in the analysis of proteins and petroleum.
• Tools of the Trade – Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization (MALDI)
  This method of ionization, widely used since its introduction in the late 1980s, has been of great help to scientists studying polymers, proteins and other heavy molecules.
• Reading Chemical "Fine Print": The Key to Unlocking Nature's Isotopic Zoo
  This link directs you to an online video of a presentation given by ICR Program Director Alan Marshall in November 2006.
• Comet Tales
  These NASA-funded programs address comets and other astronomical questions.

Other Web Resources

About Comets

• NASA: Stardust
• Jet Propulsion Laboratory: Stardust
• Comet Introduction (solarviews.com)
• David Jewitt’s Comet Page (Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii)

About Mass Spectrometry

• Mass Spectrometry Tutorial (University of Southern California)
• The Mass Spectrometer (chemguide)
• Mass Spectrometry: A Closer Look (Jet Propulsion Laboratory)
• Mass Spectrometry (Michigan State University)
• What is Mass Spectrometry? (American Society for Mass Spectrometry)
• i-mass: Information Resource on Mass Spectrometry

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