What is it?
We weigh molecules!
How does it work?
We race them!
Since energy = ½ mass × velocity
What's it for?
We identify chemicals...
...such as drugs or proteins in blood, pollutants in soil and water, or even materials from outer space.
Imagine that your
"unknown" sample was water, H2O. You'd find that
the whole molecule weighs 18 mass units: 1 from each H (hydrogen) and 16
from O (oxygen). Also, you'd see fragments weighing 17 (HO), 16 (O), and
1 (H). From all these data, you'd know that the molecule was H2O!
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