Chapter 16, Problem 16.31YT

Interpretation Introduction

Interpretation:

Hexane has six carbon atoms and dodecane has $\text{12}$ is to be verified using equation $\text{16-7}$.

Concept introduction:

The total number of carbon atoms in a molecule can be computed from the intensity of the $\text{M + 1}$ peak relative to that of the ${\text{M}}^{\text{+}}$ peak.

The equation $\text{Number of C atoms }\approx \frac{\text{Intensity of M + 1}}{{\text{Intemsity of M}}^{\text{+}}}\text{ × }\frac{\text{100 \%}}{\text{1}\text{.1 \%}}$ is used to calculate the number of carbon atoms in a molecule from mass spectrum analysis.

The base peak is the peak with the greatest intensity (usually set to $\text{100 \%}$ relative abundance) in the mass spectrum. Intensity of all other peaks is determined using the intensity of the base peak as reference.