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Help with stuff that doesn't make sense!

  • 08-10-2010 5:01pm
    #1
    Chuchoter
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,305 ✭✭✭


    This is a thread for asking questions about concepts you don't understand in school! Ask about anything: just abide by a few rules

    1. No chat, it will get confusing

    2. In the title of your post, put in the topic you are writing about, so we know what we are looking at. (ie: Briathra Neamhrialta, equating coefficients)

    3. NO DOING PEOPLES HOMEWORK! If it is one question/type of question that you simply can't get then fine, but I don't want things to descend into lazy people coming back day after day with doable questions.

    My first question, in the mass spectrometer in Chemistry, what is the purpose of ionizing? What do the electrons do? Do they bump electrons out of the sample or what? My teacher can't explain it:confused:


Comments

  • #2
    nommm
    Registered Users Posts: 700 ✭✭✭nommm


    You'll find nearly everything you need to know about it here: http://www.chemguide.co.uk/analysis/masspec/howitworks.html#top

    If there's anything else you don't understand about it after reading that, I'll be happy to explain.


  • #3
    BL1993
    Closed Accounts Posts: 341 ✭✭BL1993


    The purpose of ionisation chamber is to turn atoms into ions, i.e charged atoms. Electron gun fires high energy electrons at the atoms and knocks out electrons in the atom leaving it positively charged. This is because electrons are negatively charged.


  • #4
    jomama
    Registered Users Posts: 17 ✭jomama


    very good link nommm.

    The key to the requirement to ionise is that ...as the link says...NEUTRAL PARTICLES ARE COMPLETELY UNAFFECTD BY A MAG FIELD.

    This means that if you dont ionise the neutral particles that have been fired into the chamber, they cannot be directed anywhere, and will just "pool" there.

    They must all be ionised as positive because if they were negative they would be directed to the LEFT of the spectrometer diagram, and would not be directed to the detector etc. You dont need to understand WHY if you dont do physics, but if you are interested, google "FLEMING'S LEFT HAND RULE". Basically positives will travel in one direction, and negatives in the exact opposite direction, so I suppose rather than having to double up on all the detection equipment etc, they design spectrometers for 1 type of ion only.


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