Mass Spectrometry is used to determine the molecular weight of a given
compound. It can also be used to determine the connectivity (that
is, how the molecule is hooked together) of a compound. In this technique,
the compound to be analyzed is ionized, the resultant ion (and fragment
ions) are separated in magnetic and/or electric fields, and then ordered
on the basis of mass to charge ratio. Our mass spectrometer (Thermo
Finnigan Polaris Q) is interfaced to a gas chromatograph (Thermo Finnigan
Trace GC) so we can analyze mixtures. The GC will separate the
mixture and the MS will provide structural information for each compound.
We obtained the GC/MS in 2001 at a cost of about $85,000, with the
help of grants from the National Science Foundation, Dreyfus Foundation,
and Lycoming College. The GC/MS also has an autosampler to allow
us to run samples from every student in a class overnight.
Jeff Musselman is analyzing a new
compound by GC-MS
Return to the main instrument page
Proceed to the description of the ultraviolet-visible
spectrometer
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Last updated October 14, 2004.
The URL for this page is http://www.lycoming.edu/chem/tour/inst4.htm
