ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Bainbridge mass spectrometer

Okay kiddo, imagine you're playing on a playground with your friends. You're all bouncing on different kinds of balls, and each ball has a different weight, size, and color. Now imagine you want to figure out the weight of each ball without taking it apart. How would you do it?

Well, this is exactly what a bainbridge mass spectrometer does, but instead of balls, it looks at tiny particles called ions. These ions are like the balls on your playground because they have different weights, sizes, and charges.

To use the bainbridge mass spectrometer, scientists first create a beam of ions by heating up a sample of material. This beam is like a line of balls coming out of a ball machine.

Then, the ions pass through a magnet that applies a force that depends on the charge of the ion and the strength of the magnetic field. This force is like your arms pushing on each ball to see how heavy it is. As the ions pass through the magnet, they bend to different degrees depending on their charge and weight, which separates them based on their mass.

Finally, the separated ions are detected by a special instrument that counts how many ions of each mass there are. This is like counting the number of red, blue, and green balls on the playground.

In summary, the bainbridge mass spectrometer is like a playground where scientists look at different kinds of tiny particles and separate them by their weight, charge, and size using a magnet. This helps scientists figure out what's in a sample without taking it apart. Cool, huh?