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The technique of mass spectrometry had its beginnings in J.J. Thomson's
vacuum tube where in the early part of the century the existence of
electrons and "positive rays" was demonstrated. Thomson, the physicist,
observed in his book "Rays of Positive Electricity and Their Application
to Chemical Analysis" that the new technique could be a used profitably
by chemists to analyze chemicals. Despite this far-sighted observation,
the primary application of mass spectrometry remain in the realm of
physics for nearly thirty years. It was used to discover a number of
isotopes, to determine the relative abundance of the isotopes, and to
measure their "exact masses", i.e., atomic masses to within a precision
of 1 part in 106 or better. These important fundamental measurements
laid the foundation for later developments in diverse feilds ranging
from geochronology to biochemical research.
On these Web pages we discuss the basic principles of mass spectrometry
and some important applications. We also provide a brief explanation
of how a mass spectrometer works, a description of its various component
parts, and a discussion of mass spectra and the kind of information
they contain. In later sections we will discuss ionization techniques,
data presentation as it relates to chromatography, and some highlights
of recent breakthroughs.
Because mass spectrometry is most often used to analyze organic molecules,
the examples on these pages are drawn from this group of substances.
The principles of mass spectrometry are, however , broadly applicable
and our discussion will also include analyses of inorganic substances.
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