Unit 1 Notes

Adnan Chowdhury 4

Mass Spectrometer:
The mass spectrometer can be used to determine relative atomic mass, relative molecular mass,
relative isotopic abundance, molecular structure, etc.


There are 5 things that happen when a sample is injected into a mass spectrometer:
1. Vaporisation: If the sample is a solid or liquid, it is vaporised (turned into a gas) using an
electric heater.

2. Ionisation: The gas particles are bombarded with high energy electrons from a filament wire (by
thermionic emission) to ionise them. Electrons are knocked out and positive ions are formed.

A(g) + e
-
A
+
(g) + 2e
-
A = an atom

M(g) + e
-
M
+
(g) + 2e
-
M = a molecule.

3. Acceleration: The positive ions are accelerated by an electric field

4. Deflection: The positive ions are deflected using a magnetic field. Lighter ions with greater
charge have less momentum and are deflected more compared to heavier ones with less charge.
For a given magnetic field, only ions with a particular mass/charge (m/z) ratio can make it to
the detector. Ions with greater mass/charge ratio will deflect more.

5. Detection: The magnetic field strength is slowly increased. This changes the mass/charge ratio
of ions that can reach the detector. A mass spectrum is produced.




Unit 1 Notes


Adnan Chowdhury 5


Problem:

Calculate the relative atomic mass of Magnesium.
Problem:

Calculate the relative atomic mass of Neon.
Problem:




Unit 1 Notes


Adnan Chowdhury 6

Chlorine has two isotopes Cl-35 and Cl-37. Identify the species responsible for the peaks.
Problem:

Bromine has two isotopes Br-79 and Br-81.
a. Identify the particles responsible for the peaks.
b. Deduce the relative abundance of the two isotopes.
c. Write a chemical equation to show the formation of the species at m/z = 160.
Problem:
Carbon has three isotopes C-12, C-13 and C-14. Chlorine has two isotopes Cl-35 and Cl-37. Calculate the
maximum and minimum mass of CCl4.
Problem:
The relative atomic mass of copper is 63.5. Calculate the relative abundance of the two copper isotopes
with relative isotopic masses of 63 and 65.
Problem:
The mass spectrum of a chloride of phosphorus, PClx, shows three main group of lines, The m/z values
of which are given in the table below:
m/z
I 66, 68
II 101, 103, 105
III 136, 138, 140, 142

a. Identify the species responsible for the peaks.
b. Deduce the value of x.

Bombarding with electrons makes some molecules break up into fragments. These all show up in
the mass spectrum making a fragmentation pattern.

The fragment with the greatest relative abundance is called the base peak.

The fragment with the highest m/z value is called the molecular ion (M
+
) peak.

For organic compounds, the M
+
peak has the second highest m/z value and the highest m/z value
is for the (M+1)
+
peak. This happens due to Carbon-13 isotope.