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• Structure of the mass spectrometer

Mass spectrometry is a method for finding out the mass of particles contained in a sample and, thereby, for identifying what those particles are. A typical application of mass spectrometry is the identification of small amounts of materials found at a crime scene. Forensic (crime) scientists can use this method to identify amounts of a material too small to be identified by other means.

The basic principle on which mass spectrometry operates is that a stream of charged particles is deflected by a magnetic field. The amount of the deflection depends on the mass and the charge on the particles in the stream.

Structure of the mass spectrometer

A mass spectrometer (or mass spectrograph) consists of three essential parts: the ionization chamber, the deflection chamber, and the...