Mass spectrometry operates by ionizing chemical compounds to generate charged molecules or molecule fragments and measuring their mass-to-charge ratios. The basic components include an ion source, a mass analyzer, and a detector. The ion source converts molecules into ions, the mass analyzer sorts these ions by their mass-to-charge ratios, and the detector measures the abundance of each ion. Techniques like Electrospray Ionization (ESI) and Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization (MALDI) are commonly used for ionizing large biomolecules.
