Mass Spectrometry Quiz

1.
Until 2019, the kilogram unit was defined using an international prototype kept at the International Bureau of Weights and Measures in France. The International Prototype of the Kilogram was made of an alloy of platinum and one other metal. The metal was:
- Gold
- Iridium
- Rhenium
Your answer:

Correct answer:

The International Prototype of the Kilogram was a cylinder with a height and diameter of 39 mm made of an alloy of 90% platinum and 10% iridium.
2.
Which element has the largest number of stable isotopes?
- Molybdenum
- Tin
- Ytterbium
Your answer:

Correct answer:

Naturally occurring tin is a mixture of its ten stable isotopes and they are found in the percentages as follows: ¹¹²Sn (1.0 %), ¹¹⁴Sn (0.7 %), ¹¹⁵Sn (0.3 %), ¹¹⁶Sn (14.5 %), ¹¹⁷Sn (7.7 %), ¹¹⁸Sn (24.2 %), ¹¹⁹Sn (8.6 %), ¹²⁰Sn (32.6 %), ¹²²Sn (4.6 %), and ¹²⁴Sn (5.8 %). Molybdenum has six stable isotopes, ytterbium seven.
3.
Josef Mattauch is known for the development of Mattauch-Herzog double-focusing mass spectrometer and his work on isotopes and atomic weights. His career is connected with the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Chemistry in Berlin. Do you know where he was born?
- Berlin, Germany
- Ostrava, Czechia
- Klosterneuburg, Austria
Your answer:

Correct answer:

Josef Mattauch was born in 1895 in the city of Mährisch Ostrau, in what is now the Czech Republic, then part of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire.
4.
What ionization technique was used for the first sequencing of peptides by mass spectrometry?
- Electron ionization
- Fast atom bombardment
- Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization
Your answer:

Correct answer:

Mass spectrometry was used to sequence peptides for the first time in 1959 when K. Biemann described an innovative method based on the reduction of small peptides to polyamino alcohols with characteristic EI spectra. [https://doi.org/10.1021/ja01518a069]
5.
What is the base peak in the mass spectrum?
- The peak with the greatest m/z value
- The peak from which fragments are formed
- The peak that has the greatest intensity
Your answer:

Correct answer:

The base peak is the peak with the greatest intensity among all peaks in the spectrum. The intensity of each peak in the spectrum is expressed as a percentage relative to the intensity of the base peak.
6.
Joseph John Thomson (1856 - 1940), Nobel laureate in physics, is credited with the invention of the mass spectrometer, the discovery of the electron and isotopes of stable elements. A lesser-known fact is his father's profession. What was it?
- Electrical engineer
- Owner of an antiquarian bookshop
- Circus ringmaster
Your answer:

Correct answer:

His father, Joseph James Thomson, ran an antiquarian bookshop founded by Thomson’s great-grandfather. [Wikipedia]
7.
Who first reported the fragmentation after the gamma hydrogen rearrangement to an unsaturated group via a sixmembered intermediate?
- A. J. C. Nicholson
- F. W. McLafferty
- F. Tureček
Your answer:

Correct answer:

It was first reported by Australian A. J. C. Nicholson in 1954 (Trans. Faraday Soc. 50: 1067-1073). The reaction description was published five years later (Anal. Chem. 1959, 31: 82–87) by the American chemist Fred McLafferty, by whose name we now refer to the rearrangement (McLafferty rearrangement).
8.
List these compounds according to their increasing mass: hydrazine (H4N2), oxygen (O2), methanol (CH4O).
- Hydrazine, oxygen, methanol
- Methanol, hydrazine, oxygen
- Oxygen, methanol, hydrazine
Your answer:

Correct answer:

The monoisotopic masses of these compounds are 31.989829 Da (oxygen), 32.026215 Da (methanol), and 32.037448 Da (hydrazine).
9.
What is the trajectory of a charged particle moving perpendicularly to a uniform magnetic field in a vacuum?
- The particle follows a curved path and continues to follow this path until it forms a complete circle
- The particle follows a helical path
- The particle follows a straight line and accelerates
Your answer:

Correct answer:

The magnetic force is perpendicular to the velocity so that it does no work on the charged particle. The particle’s kinetic energy and speed thus remain constant. The direction of motion is affected but not the speed.
10.
John Zeleny was an American physicist whose work laid the theoretical foundations of electrospray ionization. He was born in 1872 into a family of immigrants from Europe. Where did his family come from?
- Slovakia
- Czechia
- Poland
Your answer:

Correct answer:

The parents of John Zelený, Antonín Zelený and Josefa Pitková, came from Křídla, a small village near Žďár nad Sázavou in Austria-Hungary (now the Czech Republic).

Mass Spectrometry Quiz

Mass Spectrometry Quiz

Thank you for taking our quiz!

1.
Until 2019, the kilogram unit was defined using an international prototype kept at the International Bureau of Weights and Measures in France. The International Prototype of the Kilogram was made of an alloy of platinum and one other metal. The metal was:

2.
Which element has the largest number of stable isotopes?

3.
Josef Mattauch is known for the development of Mattauch-Herzog double-focusing mass spectrometer and his work on isotopes and atomic weights. His career is connected with the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Chemistry in Berlin. Do you know where he was born?

4.
What ionization technique was used for the first sequencing of peptides by mass spectrometry?

5.
What is the base peak in the mass spectrum?

6.
Joseph John Thomson (1856 - 1940), Nobel laureate in physics, is credited with the invention of the mass spectrometer, the discovery of the electron and isotopes of stable elements. A lesser-known fact is his father's profession. What was it?

7.
Who first reported the fragmentation after the gamma hydrogen rearrangement to an unsaturated group via a sixmembered intermediate?

8.
List these compounds according to their increasing mass: hydrazine (H4N2), oxygen (O2), methanol (CH4O).

9.
What is the trajectory of a charged particle moving perpendicularly to a uniform magnetic field in a vacuum?

10.
John Zeleny was an American physicist whose work laid the theoretical foundations of electrospray ionization. He was born in 1872 into a family of immigrants from Europe. Where did his family come from?

Czech Museum
of Mass Spectrometry

Our partners

Mass Spectrometry Quiz

Mass Spectrometry Quiz

Thank you for taking our quiz!

1. Until 2019, the kilogram unit was defined using an international prototype kept at the International Bureau of Weights and Measures in France. The International Prototype of the Kilogram was made of an alloy of platinum and one other metal. The metal was:

2. Which element has the largest number of stable isotopes?

3. Josef Mattauch is known for the development of Mattauch-Herzog double-focusing mass spectrometer and his work on isotopes and atomic weights. His career is connected with the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Chemistry in Berlin. Do you know where he was born?

4. What ionization technique was used for the first sequencing of peptides by mass spectrometry?

5. What is the base peak in the mass spectrum?

6. Joseph John Thomson (1856 - 1940), Nobel laureate in physics, is credited with the invention of the mass spectrometer, the discovery of the electron and isotopes of stable elements. A lesser-known fact is his father's profession. What was it?

7. Who first reported the fragmentation after the gamma hydrogen rearrangement to an unsaturated group via a sixmembered intermediate?

8. List these compounds according to their increasing mass: hydrazine (H4N2), oxygen (O2), methanol (CH4O).

9. What is the trajectory of a charged particle moving perpendicularly to a uniform magnetic field in a vacuum?

10. John Zeleny was an American physicist whose work laid the theoretical foundations of electrospray ionization. He was born in 1872 into a family of immigrants from Europe. Where did his family come from?

Czech Museumof Mass Spectrometry

Our partners

1.
Until 2019, the kilogram unit was defined using an international prototype kept at the International Bureau of Weights and Measures in France. The International Prototype of the Kilogram was made of an alloy of platinum and one other metal. The metal was:

2.
Which element has the largest number of stable isotopes?

3.
Josef Mattauch is known for the development of Mattauch-Herzog double-focusing mass spectrometer and his work on isotopes and atomic weights. His career is connected with the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Chemistry in Berlin. Do you know where he was born?

4.
What ionization technique was used for the first sequencing of peptides by mass spectrometry?

5.
What is the base peak in the mass spectrum?

6.
Joseph John Thomson (1856 - 1940), Nobel laureate in physics, is credited with the invention of the mass spectrometer, the discovery of the electron and isotopes of stable elements. A lesser-known fact is his father's profession. What was it?

7.
Who first reported the fragmentation after the gamma hydrogen rearrangement to an unsaturated group via a sixmembered intermediate?

8.
List these compounds according to their increasing mass: hydrazine (H4N2), oxygen (O2), methanol (CH4O).

9.
What is the trajectory of a charged particle moving perpendicularly to a uniform magnetic field in a vacuum?

10.
John Zeleny was an American physicist whose work laid the theoretical foundations of electrospray ionization. He was born in 1872 into a family of immigrants from Europe. Where did his family come from?

Czech Museum
of Mass Spectrometry