stackyFACTSIf you want to know what something is made of, simply vaporize it, zap it with a laser, and throw it through a magnet. Mass spectrometry separates ionized particles by their mass-to-charge ratio, giving you a precise recipe of the sample. It ruins the magic of every secret formula on Earth.
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Who knew that making chemicals run a marathon through special paper would force them to split up? Chromatography separates mixtures by dissolving them in a…
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Every element has a unique light signature, which means everything can be identified if you heat it enough. Spectrometers analyze the specific wavelengths of…
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Instead of aggressively exploding hydrogen, fuel cells politely ask it to trade electrons with oxygen. This controlled chemical reaction produces electricity,…
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You can tell exactly how much sugar is in a grape by shining a light through its crushed, sticky juice. Refractometers measure the angle at which light bends…
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Figuring out the exact curve of a lens used to involve a lot of aggressive guessing before this instrument arrived. A spherometer uses three fixed legs and…
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If you want to know a molecule's shape, turn it into a rock and hit it with high-energy rays. X-ray crystallography measures how radiation scatters off a…
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