1 - Atoms, ionisation, mass spectroscopy

Relative isotopic mass

Mass of an isotope relative to 1/12th the mass of a C-12 atom

Relative atomic mass

Weighted mean mass of an atom of an element relative to 1/12th C-12 atom taking into account each isotope and its abundance

Mass spectrometer

Used to find the percentage abundance of isotopes in an element sample

Stages of mass spectrometry

Vaporisation

Ionisation

Acceleration

Deflection

Detection

X axis

Y axis

mass/charge

percentage abundance

Ionisation energy

Energy required to remove 1 mole of electrons from each atom in 1 mole of gaseous atoms in an element to form 1 mole a gaseous monopositive ions