What is the MZ value?

What is the MZ value?

m/z represents mass divided by charge number and the horizontal axis in a mass spectrum is expressed in units of m/z. Since z is almost always 1 with GCMS, the m/z value is often considered to be the mass.

What is being detected in mass spectrometry?

Typically, mass spectrometers can be used to identify unknown compounds via molecular weight determination, to quantify known compounds, and to determine structure and chemical properties of molecules.

What does M+ mean in mass spec?

This cation is measured as the molecular peak and is often noted as [M+]. M for molecular mass and + indicating a + charge. In most mass spectra you will find a small peak at M+ + 1 on the spectra to the right of the molecular ion peak. This corresponds to the 13C isotope present in a compound whose mass was measured.

What do the peaks mean on a mass spectrum?

A mass spectrum is the two-dimensional representation of ion abundance versus m/z. This implies that both an ion’s m/z and its abundance are detected. The most intensive peak of a mass spectrum is termed the base peak and the intensity of the others is represented as relative to the base peak.

What does the M+ peak mean?

The M+ peak is usually the highest intensity peak in the cluster of peaks at highest m/z.

What are the basic components of a mass spectrometer?

Four basic components are, for the most part, standard in all mass spectrometers : a sample inlet, an ionization source, a mass analyzer and an ion detector. Some instruments combine the sample inlet and the ionization source, while others combine the mass analyzer and the detector.

Who is the inventor of mass spectrometry ionization?

John B. Fenn, the originator of electrospray ionization for biomolecules and the 2002 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, probably gave the most apt answer to this question: Mass spectrometry is the art of measuring atoms and molecules to determine their molecular weight.

Which is the most intense ion in a mass spectrometer?

The most intense ion is assigned an abundance of 100, and it is referred to as the base peak. Most of the ions formed in a mass spectrometer have a single charge, so the m/z value is equivalent to mass itself.

How is light separated in a mass analyzer?

In the prism, light is separated into its component wavelengths which are then detected with an optical receptor, such as visualization. Similarly, in a mass spectrometer the generated ions are separated in the mass analyzer, digitized and detected by an ion detector (such as an electron multiplier, Chapter 2).