Relative Mass

Isotope

An atom with the same number of protons but a different number of neutrons

Relative isotopic mass

The mass of an atom of an isotope relative to 1/12th of the mass of a carbon-12 atom

Relative atomic mass

The weighted average mass of an atom, relative to 1/12 of the mass of a carbon-12 atom

Describe how a mass spectrometer works

A vaporised sample is bombarded with high energy electrons, ionising it. An electromagnet accelerates the ions, deflecting them into a detector. The amount they are deflected and therefore their position in the detector relies on their mass to charge ratio

Will a high mass be deflected more or less in a mass spectrometer

Less

Will a low mass be accelerated more or less in a mass spectrometer

More

What are the axis of a mass spectrometry graph

y axis is relative abundance. x axis is mass to charge ratio

Why is the mass spectrometer a vacuum

So that air particles do not collide into the ions, decelerating them

For an element with 2 isotopes, explain how many peaks for its diatomic molecule will there be

3- You could have two of the same isotope, a mixture of both or two of the other isotope

Atomic number

The number of protons in the nucleus of an atom of that element

Mass number

The number of protons and the number of neutrons in the nucleus of that atom