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Principles of Mass Spectrometry
Mass Accuracy in HRMS Analysis
Description
High-resolution mass spectrometry separates ions by very small differences in mass. This matters because atomic masses are not always exact whole numbers, even though they are often rounded for simple calculations.
Atomic mass is usually estimated by adding the masses of protons and neutrons. In ...
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Transcript
Except for the 12C isotope, the masses of elemental nuclei are close to—but not precisely—whole numbers.
However, mass spectra typically show the particle mass rounded to the nearest whole number, which is called the nominal atomic or molecular mass.
This approximation makes it difficult to distinguish molecules with sim...
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