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Mass Spectrometer
28. Magnetic Fields and Forces / Mass Spectrometer / Problem 3

A mass spectrometer uses sulfur isotopes of mass numbers 32, 33, and 34 from a meteorite sample. The directions of the electric field between the plates and the magnetic fields are shown below. The marks formed by singly charged ions of each type on a detector film are equally spaced based on this expression: 2r=2mEqBB2r=\frac{2mE}{qBB^{\prime }}. Does it matter if the ion charge is positive (lost electrons) or negative (gained electrons)? Explain.


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