⚖️ MASS SPECTROMETRY
PAGE 1 OF 5, WEIGHING ATOMS
ATOM SCALE
HOW DO YOU WEIGH AN ATOM?
Atoms are far too small for any ordinary balance. A mass spectrometer turns atoms into charged ions, then sorts those ions by mass. Lighter and heavier ions follow different paths in a magnetic field, so the machine can tell them apart and show which isotopes are present.
⚡ DID YOU KNOW?
Mass spectrometers fly on spacecraft and sit in hospital labs. The same idea sorts ions from Earth rocks to distant planets.
WEIGH!
TOO SMALL
⚖️ No kitchen scale can weigh an atom
🔬 Need charge and motion instead
📡 Ions can be steered and counted
🔬 Need charge and motion instead
📡 Ions can be steered and counted
THE MACHINE
🧪 Sample enters as gas or vapour
⚡ Electrons knock off to make ions
🧲 Magnets sort the ion beam
⚡ Electrons knock off to make ions
🧲 Magnets sort the ion beam