National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: Mass Spectrometry: How to Weigh an Atom
It's hard enough to weigh something as itty bitty as atoms or molecules. Factor in that they're careening by faster than Jeff Gordon on steroids, and you get an idea what scientists are up against. Using comet particles from NASA's...
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: Mass Spectra
The mass spectrum of a material, deduced using a machine called a mass spectrometer, reveals how many isotopes of a given element are to be found in the material. See here what these spectra look like and how they are useful. (Java...