Mass spectrometry

♤ In News: Mass spectrometry arguably the most important analytical spectroscopic tool of modern times, is in its centenary year in 2013 along with two other celebrated discoveries of science, the Bohr atom model and the chemical bond of G. N. Lewis.

♤ Mass spectrometry (MS) is an analytical chemistry technique to determine the mass of a molecule by measuring the mass-to-charge ratio of its ion.

♤ Sir J.J. Thomson, a Nobel Laureate, also known for the discovery of electrons, built the first rudimentary mass spectrometer in 1913. which identified the existence of isotopes — atoms differing in mass but having the same atomic number and therefore occupying the same position in the periodic table.

♤ There are many problems in Chemistry which could be solved with far greater ease by this method than by any other method. Mass spectrometry has both qualitative and quantitative uses. These include identifying unknown compounds, determining the isotopic composition of elements in a molecule, and determining the structure of a compound by observing its fragmentation.

♤ Other uses include quantifying the amount of a compound in a sample. MS is now in very common use in analytical laboratories that study physical, chemical, or biological properties of a great variety of compounds.