Which modern analytical instrument is best suited for the qualitative analysis of volatile organic compounds (VOCs)?
Practice Questions
1 question
Q1
Which modern analytical instrument is best suited for the qualitative analysis of volatile organic compounds (VOCs)?
Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry
High-Performance Liquid Chromatography
Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy
Ultraviolet-Visible Spectroscopy
Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) is the preferred method for the qualitative analysis of volatile organic compounds due to its sensitivity and specificity.
Questions & Step-by-step Solutions
1 item
Q
Q: Which modern analytical instrument is best suited for the qualitative analysis of volatile organic compounds (VOCs)?
Solution: Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) is the preferred method for the qualitative analysis of volatile organic compounds due to its sensitivity and specificity.
Steps: 8
Step 1: Understand what volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are. They are chemicals that can easily become vapors or gases.
Step 2: Learn about analytical instruments. These are tools used to analyze substances and identify their components.
Step 3: Identify the purpose of qualitative analysis. This means determining what specific compounds are present in a sample.
Step 4: Research different analytical methods for VOCs. Common methods include Gas Chromatography (GC) and Mass Spectrometry (MS).
Step 5: Discover how Gas Chromatography works. It separates different compounds in a sample based on their volatility.
Step 6: Learn how Mass Spectrometry works. It identifies compounds by measuring their mass and structure.
Step 7: Combine the two methods. Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) combines the separation power of GC with the identification power of MS.
Step 8: Conclude that GC-MS is the best choice for analyzing VOCs because it is sensitive (can detect small amounts) and specific (can identify different compounds accurately).
