Mass Spectrometry Quiz

1.
What is the trajectory of a charged particle moving parallel to a uniform electric field in a vacuum?
- The particle follows a curved path and continues to follow this path until it forms a complete circle
- Neither the trajectory nor the velocity of the particle changes
- The particle either accelerates or decelerates, depending on the field direction and the particle charge sign
Your answer:

Correct answer:

If a positive charge is moving in the same direction as the electric field vector the particle's velocity will increase. If it is moving in the opposite direction it will decelerate. If a negative charge is moving in the same direction as the electric field vector the particle will decelerate. If it is moving in the opposite direction it will accelerate.
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.
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).
4.
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).
5.
Which mass spectrometer was carried by the American spacecraft Viking 1 sent to the planet Mars in 1975?
- Double-focusing mass spectrometer
- Time-of-flight mass spectrometer
- Quadrupole mass spectrometer
Your answer:

Correct answer:

Viking 1 carried two mass spectrometers, both equipped with double-focusing analyzers and electron ionization sources. The first spectrometer with a Mattauch-Herzog geometry was designed by Alfred Nier; it was intended to analyze the upper atmosphere of Mars. The second one with a Nier- Johnson geometry was part of the GC/MS apparatus designed by Klaus Biemann. It was used to analyze the regolith and the atmosphere at the landing site.
6.
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.
7.
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]
8.
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]
9.
Chemical ionization (CI) is a soft ionization technique used in mass spectrometry. Who discovered it?
- Burnaby Munson and Frank H. Field
- Michael Barber
- Hans-Dieter Beckey
Your answer:

Correct answer:

Chemical ionization was discovered in the laboratories of the Humble Oil and Refining Company in Baytown, TX. Munson and Field’s seminal paper on chemical ionization was published in 1966. [https://doi.org/10.1021/ja00964a001]
10.
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.

Mass Spectrometry Quiz

Mass Spectrometry Quiz

Thank you for taking our quiz!

1.
What is the trajectory of a charged particle moving parallel to a uniform electric field in a vacuum?

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

3.
Who first reported the fragmentation after the gamma hydrogen rearrangement to an unsaturated group via a sixmembered intermediate?

4.
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?

5.
Which mass spectrometer was carried by the American spacecraft Viking 1 sent to the planet Mars in 1975?

6.
What is the base peak in the mass spectrum?

7.
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?

8.
What ionization technique was used for the first sequencing of peptides by mass spectrometry?

9.
Chemical ionization (CI) is a soft ionization technique used in mass spectrometry. Who discovered it?

10.
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:

Czech Museum
of Mass Spectrometry

Our partners

Mass Spectrometry Quiz

Mass Spectrometry Quiz

Thank you for taking our quiz!

1. What is the trajectory of a charged particle moving parallel to a uniform electric field in a vacuum?

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

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

4. 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?

5. Which mass spectrometer was carried by the American spacecraft Viking 1 sent to the planet Mars in 1975?

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

7. 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?

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

9. Chemical ionization (CI) is a soft ionization technique used in mass spectrometry. Who discovered it?

10. 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:

Czech Museumof Mass Spectrometry

Our partners

1.
What is the trajectory of a charged particle moving parallel to a uniform electric field in a vacuum?

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

3.
Who first reported the fragmentation after the gamma hydrogen rearrangement to an unsaturated group via a sixmembered intermediate?

4.
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?

5.
Which mass spectrometer was carried by the American spacecraft Viking 1 sent to the planet Mars in 1975?

6.
What is the base peak in the mass spectrum?

7.
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?

8.
What ionization technique was used for the first sequencing of peptides by mass spectrometry?

9.
Chemical ionization (CI) is a soft ionization technique used in mass spectrometry. Who discovered it?

10.
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:

Czech Museum
of Mass Spectrometry