Questions and answers for Mass spectrometry

Selection of different types of exam questions; recall and application, that students can use to check and evaluate their knowledge on mass spectrometry.
The questions are suitable for OCR A level Chemistry and for AQA AS Chemistry 7404.
Some of the questions could be used with GCSE Chemistry students as an extension.

The questions relate to the following:

1. How does a Mass spectrometer work
2. How molecular ion and fragment ions are formed
3. Mass spectra of diatomic molecules (halogens)
4. Uses of MS

• Finding out the relative isotopic masses and relative abundances of the naturally occurring isotopes of an element – which allows to calculate the relative atomic mass, Ar for an element.
• Finding the relative molecular mass of organic compounds and
  using fragmentation pattern to gain information about structure of organic compounds.
• Using fragmentation patterns to identify organic compounds.
  Stretch and challenge: Mass spectra of organic halogen compounds, M+1 peak