4 ms·

My high school in a not-wealthy part of Alabama had a dozen of them in their chemistry lab 15 years ago. Can't be that expensive...

• refurb 4y ago
  A dozen of them? Are you sure they aren't gas chromatographers? I worked in a well funded private lab and we didn't have "a dozen" of them.
  • fbdab103 4y ago
    Significantly depends on what kind of MS we are talking. Single quad can be had for well under $100k. Top of the line Orbitrap is ~$1.2 million. Depending on the analytical constraints, I think you could get by with a mid-range triple quad for $200-300k. Although, if you need to do exploratory work, I think everyone should just buy a QE as it is a solid workhorse that can fit most any role. When a lot of that equipment gets aged out from industrial uses it will be given to universities in still-working order. Biotechs going bust can also be a boon to the second-hand market where state of the art equipment can be had for a song. I know one lab which acquired a piece of equipment that had been used in a background shot of a Jurassic Park movie.
    • refurb 4y ago
      I mean sure, but does it makes sense that a high school would have $1-2M worth of mass spectrometers? Keep in mind there is significant expense in their upkeep as well. That's why I guessed they were probably gas chromatographers with wavelength or FID detectors. Those are pretty cheap (gas source, injector and column).
  • Teknoman117 4y ago
    You're probably right. I vaguely remember being told they only worked on volatile compounds.