A new app, freely available for Windows
computers, has been developed
to simulate tuning of an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer,
on the basis of optimization data collected using a sector-field instrument.
The app allows students to adjust parameters, including the torch
position, gas flows, radio-frequency power, and guard-electrode state,
while observing the signal for three “measured” variables
in real time. The app has been used with a group of second-year undergraduate
students to supplement theoretical material taught in an Atomic Spectrometry
lecture course. The exercise familiarized students with key components
of the instrument and demonstrated how multiple factors may need to
be balanced when performing optimization.
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