CHM120H5 Lecture Notes - Molar Mass, Mass Spectrum, Molecular Mass
Document Summary
The main purpose of the laboratory experiment was to identify the unknown organic compound which contains carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, chlorine, bromine, nitrogen or fluorine from a given set of data that was obtained through mass spectrometry of the compound1. A mass spectrum can be used to confirm or find the identity of a chemical species. A mass spectrum is made by a mass spectrometer which separates particles based on mass2. When the gaseous sample is let in through the inlet of the spectrometer, it is bombarded with electrons2. When one electron hits a molecule of the sample, an electron is deflected off of the molecule. Since the molecule is now missing an electron it is unstable, and so it yields fragments which can be summarized in the following equations. After ionization and fragmentation, the particles are accelerated so they all move along a path that goes between two electromagnetic plates in order to become separated3.
