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DIY mass spectrometer measures potassium in dietary salt substitute

Applied Science · 453.2K views · 2019-11-30 · 26:45

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Overview

Ben Krasnow of Applied Science builds and operates a simple mass spectrometer, using it to measure potassium isotopes in a salt substitute. He explains the design choices and the theory behind it.

On Hacker News

Recommended as an expert-made DIY build that explains why the apparatus is designed as it is, though one commenter notes a missing baseline run.

Recommended by 3 HN people across 3 months · HN mentions 2020–2023

Topics

ChemistryEveryday physics & science demosEmbedded systems & DIY electronics
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mass spectrometerapplied scienceion beamisotopesdiy science

What people said

hsjqllzlfkf · 2023-06 · Recommendation

The channels that I had in mind when I wrote that are channels by experts in their fields, which somehow often happen to be low production value - because you know real scientists are about substance, not style :-) So here's a random one in that category: this guy decided to try and build a mass spectrometer from scratch [VIDEO]

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anfractuosity · 2022-01 · Recommendation

You might like - [VIDEO] ( DIY mass spectrometer measures potassium in dietary salt substitute ) by Ben Krasnow

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MertsA · 2020-02 · Recommendation

You'd be interested in Ben Krasnow's DiY attempt. It's still understandable but he tries to explain why it's built the way it is and give you a good basis of the theory of operation. [VIDEO]

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Sources

Video by Applied Science, played through YouTube.

Data and selection notes

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