Time-of-flight mass spectrometry (TOFMS) is a method of mass spectrometry in which an ion's mass-to-charge ratio is determined via a time measurement. Ions are accelerated by an electric field of known strength. This acceleration results in an ion having the same kinetic energy as any other ion that has the same charge. The velocity of the ion depends on the mass-to-charge ratio. The time that it subsequently takes for the particle to reach a detector at a known distance is measured. This time will depend on the mass-to-charge ratio of the particle (heavier particles reach lower speeds). From this time and the known experimental parameters one can find the mass-to-charge ratio of the ion.
Read more about Time-of-flight Mass Spectrometry: Theory, Delayed Extraction, Reflectron TOF, Ion Gating, Orthogonal Acceleration Time-of-flight, Hadamard Transform Time-of-flight Mass Spectrometry, Tandem TOF/TOF, Detectors, Applications, History of The Field
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