You can use a mass spectrometer to find out loads of stuff. It can tell you the relative atomic mass, relative molecular mass, and molecular structure.
There are 5 things that happen when a sample is squirted into a mass spectrometer:
1. Vaporisation- the sample is turned into gas (vaporised) using an electrical heater.
2. Ionisation- the gas particles are bombared with high-energy electrons to ionise them. Electrons are knocked off the particles, leaving positive ions.
3. Acceleration- the positive ions are accelerated by an electric field.
4. Deflection- the positive ions are altered with a magnetic field. Lighter ions have less momentum and are deflected more than heavier ions. For a given magnetic field, only ions with a particular mass/charge ratio make it to the detector.
5. Detection- the magnetic field strength is slowly increased. As this happens, different ions (ones with a higher mass/charge ratio) can reach the detector. A mass spectrum is produced.
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