Mass Spectrometry Interpreter

Click peaks to see fragmentation patterns. Click atoms to find their fragments.

Ethanol

CH₃CH₂OH - MW 46.07

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IR¹H NMR
Click peaks to see fragmentation on 3D model
0102030405060020406080100m/zRelative Abundance (%)4645312915M+

Concepts

Reading a Mass Spectrum

Mass spectrometry ionizes a molecule and breaks it into fragments. The mass-to-charge ratio (m/z) of each fragment is measured, producing a "fingerprint" spectrum.

How to read the chart

The x-axis shows m/z (mass-to-charge ratio). The y-axis shows relative abundance (%) - the tallest peak is set to 100%.

Two key peaks

The molecular ion (M+) tells you the molecular weight. The base peak (tallest) is the most stable fragment.

Learn more about mass spectrometry →
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