Units in Mass Spectrometry Form

Instructions and help about Units In Mass Spectrometry

- [Instructor] In other videos, we have talked about the idea that, even for a given element, you might have different versions of that element, and we call those different versions isotopes. And each isotope of an element can have a different atomic mass. And that stems from the idea that, if it's a given element, it's going to have the same number of protons, but you could have a different number of neutrons. Now one question that you might have been asking yourself is how have chemists been able to figure out what the various isotopes of an element are and their relative abundance? What percentage of an element that we find in the universe is of isotope A versus, say, isotope B? And the answer to your question is they use a technique known as mass spectrometry. I can never say it right, mass spectrometry. Sometimes you'll hear the word mass spectroscopy, and they're essentially referring to the same idea. And what this technique is, is that you put a little bit of a sample right ove