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sbuckstein
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I understand that in a mass spectrometer, a particle will first pass through an accelerometer to pick up speed (presumably starting from rest).
Let's say you have an electron starting from rest being passed through a difference of 1000V, it should have a kinetic energy of 1000eV right before it enters the mass spectrometer.
Once it is in the upper chamber, where there is no electric force to counteract the magnetic force, it will curve in circular motion. Does it acquire additional KE due to the centripetal acceleration? Or is it just a change of direction? Thanks
Let's say you have an electron starting from rest being passed through a difference of 1000V, it should have a kinetic energy of 1000eV right before it enters the mass spectrometer.
Once it is in the upper chamber, where there is no electric force to counteract the magnetic force, it will curve in circular motion. Does it acquire additional KE due to the centripetal acceleration? Or is it just a change of direction? Thanks