Time-of-flight mass spectrometry
When we want to know what kind of things are in a mixture, we can use a special machine called a mass spectrometer.
Imagine you have a big bag of different colored candies, and you want to know how many of each color there are. You could separate them by color and count them, right? This is kind of what a mass spectrometer does, but with tiny particles called atoms or molecules.
First, we put the mixture into the mass spectrometer and turn it into a gas. Then, we shoot a beam of particles called ions into it. These ions are like little electrically charged "bullets" that can knock apart the gas molecules.
When an ion hits a molecule, it can knock off one or more little pieces called electrons. This makes a new ion, which we can measure how much it weighs. Different types of molecules have different weights, so we can use this to figure out what's in our mixture.
But how do we measure the weight of an ion? This is where time-of-flight comes in. Imagine a race between two runners, one very heavy and one very light. Even if they both start running at the same time, the heavy runner will take longer to reach the finish line.
In a mass spectrometer, we measure how long it takes for an ion to travel a certain distance to a detector. We know the time it took and the distance it traveled, so we can figure out how fast it was going. If we know how fast it was going, we can use the equation "speed = distance/time" to figure out how heavy it was.
And that's how time-of-flight mass spectrometry works! It's like a race between ions, except we measure the time it takes for them to go a certain distance instead of the distance they go in a certain time.
Imagine you have a big bag of different colored candies, and you want to know how many of each color there are. You could separate them by color and count them, right? This is kind of what a mass spectrometer does, but with tiny particles called atoms or molecules.
First, we put the mixture into the mass spectrometer and turn it into a gas. Then, we shoot a beam of particles called ions into it. These ions are like little electrically charged "bullets" that can knock apart the gas molecules.
When an ion hits a molecule, it can knock off one or more little pieces called electrons. This makes a new ion, which we can measure how much it weighs. Different types of molecules have different weights, so we can use this to figure out what's in our mixture.
But how do we measure the weight of an ion? This is where time-of-flight comes in. Imagine a race between two runners, one very heavy and one very light. Even if they both start running at the same time, the heavy runner will take longer to reach the finish line.
In a mass spectrometer, we measure how long it takes for an ion to travel a certain distance to a detector. We know the time it took and the distance it traveled, so we can figure out how fast it was going. If we know how fast it was going, we can use the equation "speed = distance/time" to figure out how heavy it was.
And that's how time-of-flight mass spectrometry works! It's like a race between ions, except we measure the time it takes for them to go a certain distance instead of the distance they go in a certain time.