Massapektrometrissä

Massapektrometrissä is a Finnish term that translates to "in the mass spectrometer" or "mass spectrometry" depending on the context. Mass spectrometry is an analytical technique used to measure the mass-to-charge ratio of ions. It is employed in various scientific fields, including chemistry, physics, and biology, to identify and quantify unknown compounds, determine the isotopic composition of elements, and elucidate the structure of molecules.

The fundamental principle of mass spectrometry involves ionizing a sample, separating these ions based on their mass-to-charge ratio, and then detecting the abundance of each ion. The process typically begins with an ionization source, which can be one of many types depending on the sample and desired outcome, such as electron ionization (EI), electrospray ionization (ESI), or matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI). Once ionized, the ions are accelerated into a mass analyzer, where electric and magnetic fields are used to separate them. Common types of mass analyzers include quadrupole, time-of-flight (TOF), and magnetic sector analyzers. Finally, a detector records the number of ions that arrive at specific mass-to-charge ratios, generating a mass spectrum. This spectrum is a plot of ion abundance versus mass-to-charge ratio, serving as a unique fingerprint for the analyzed substance.