yo!
For the past 4 days (and for the next six weeks), I've been at Florida State University doing some pretty interesting research.The project involves very-high precision measurement of atomic masses, for example using single ions in a device called a Penning trap. In the Penning trap, a single atomic or molecular ion is levitated in vacuum, by a combination of magnetic and electric fields. The magnetic field is produced by an 8.5 tesla super-conducting magnet. The ions orbit around the magnetic field lines at a frequency inversely proportional to the mass (this is called the cyclotron frequency). By measuring the ratio of cyclotron frequencies of two different ions I can obtain the ratio of their masses. Our mass spectrometer, which can measure an atomic mass to 100 part-per-trillion or better, is the most accurate in the world! I also get private lectures from a pretty cool spectrometer about the physics and math behind the penning trap. The aforementioned magnetic field is so strong, it can pull a steel (not stainless) equivalent of a dewar very forcefully from six feet away.
lol this sounded like a blog
