How to Use mass spectrometry in a Sentence

mass spectrometry

noun
  • The second method may be the more familiar use of mass spectrometry in pop culture.
    — Caroline Delbert, Popular Mechanics, 27 Aug. 2021
  • Rosetta sent back mass spectrometry data showing that glycine, the simplest amino acid, was present on the comet.
    — Luba Ostashevsky, Ars Technica, 26 Feb. 2018
  • Scientists can use mass spectrometry to analyze how levels vary from one year to the next.
    — Dave Levitan, Scientific American, 25 May 2020
  • For the new study, Lee and co-authors used gas chromatography-mass spectrometry to do just that.
    — Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 18 Jan. 2023
  • Dottin and his team used secondary ion mass spectrometry to analyze the sample.
    — Chris Young, Interesting Engineering, 7 Oct. 2025
  • To find the answer, the researchers turned to mass spectrometry, a technique that can measure the mass of atomic isotopes.
    — Saugat Bolakhe, Quanta Magazine, 17 July 2023
  • What’s more, these data sets range from state-of-the-art mass spectrometry measurements to hundred-year-old maps hand-painted on linen.
    — Josh Goldman, IEEE Spectrum, 29 Apr. 2023
  • Using gas chromatography and mass spectrometry, the team found a ton of the usual bad smell offenders.
    — Max G. Levy, Wired, 3 June 2021
  • The first element was an analysis of the nerve agent provided by mass spectrometry, a technique that sorts ions based on their mass-to-charge ratio.
    — Ellen Barry and David E. Sanger, New York Times, 1 Apr. 2018
  • Extracting the proteins and examining them with a process called mass spectrometry let Kraus and her team see how old the proteins were.
    — Leslie Nemo, Discover Magazine, 9 Oct. 2019
  • Then the mass spectrometry machine counts up the piles—or quantifies how much of each chemical is present based on its molecular signature.
    — Betsy Ladyzhets, Scientific American, 24 Jan. 2024
  • Two labs also detected the proteins laminin and elastin with antibody tests, although mass spectrometry failed to turn up sequences for these proteins.
    — Robert F. Service, Science | AAAS, 13 Sep. 2017
  • Using mass spectrometry, researchers sorted 700 groups of lipid molecules found in the blood.
    — Ashley J. Dimella, FOXNews.com, 24 Aug. 2025
  • Davis walks me by its gas chromatography mass spectrometry system, which separates out those molecules as a slab of real meat is cooking.
    — Beth Kowitt, Fortune, 19 Dec. 2017
  • That’s where gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS to its friends) comes in.
    — Kiona N. Smith, Ars Technica, 2 July 2019
  • Sampling all along a baleen plate with mass spectrometry reveals the isotopic markers over time, including the transition from one ocean to another.
    — Jennifer S. Holland, Smithsonian, 1 Sep. 2017
  • Rather than use electrophoresis, Righetti opted to try a more powerful technique called mass spectrometry.
    — Jo Marchant, Smithsonian Magazine, 10 Nov. 2022
  • But for the liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry portion of the research, Longin did have to filter the beer.
    — Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 24 Aug. 2020
  • The process here begins with putting samples of real whiskey, wine or sake into a machine that performs a process known as gas and liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry.
    — Esther Mobley, SFChronicle.com, 20 Feb. 2020
  • Some are able to check their drugs with infrared or mass spectrometry, tools traditionally used by forensic teams that are now being adopted by harm-reduction groups to test drugs.
    — Nadia Kounang, CNN, 17 Mar. 2022
  • Those peptide chains—amino acids linked like Lego blocks—were then analyzed in a mass spectrometry machine and identified using protein databases.
    — Lorraine Boissoneault, Smithsonian, 12 Jan. 2018
  • Using gas chromatography and mass spectrometry, the team discovered residue of oleic and linoleic acid, telltale signatures of olive oil.
    — Jason Daley, Smithsonian, 4 June 2018
  • The scientists would pick up a cooler full of frozen wastewater samples, thaw them and analyze them using liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry.
    — Gene Johnson, The Seattle Times, 24 June 2019
  • The scientists would pick up a cooler full of frozen wastewater samples, thaw them, and analyze them using liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry.
    — Gene Johnson, BostonGlobe.com, 20 June 2019
  • During a drug test, urine samples are analyzed using mass spectrometry to identify and measure the presence of these metabolites.
    — Amber Smith, Discover Magazine, 24 June 2023
  • The Orbitrap is a tool for mass spectrometry, a go-to technique for scientists that separates molecules by their mass and measures how much of each there is in a sample.
    — Briley Lewis, Popular Science, 24 Jan. 2023
  • By running mass spectrometry on one of the site’s exigent 52 stones, the researchers were able to match its trace elements to a site in England where that rock was likely mined.
    — Caroline Delbert, Popular Mechanics, 31 July 2020
  • The research team studied the molecular structure of the samples using a gas chromatography-mass spectrometry machine.
    — Peter Weber, The Week, 2 Feb. 2023
  • Back in the lab, a gas chromatography-mass spectrometry machine separated all the compounds, which could then be recorded and named, resulting in an aromatic recipe of sorts.
    — Cody Cottier, Discover Magazine, 25 Jan. 2022
  • Gas chromatography and mass spectrometry were then used to identify the chemical composition of these emissions.
    — New Atlas, 23 Aug. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'mass spectrometry.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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