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DIY mass spectrometer measures potassium in dietary salt substitute

DIY mass spectrometer measures potassium in dietary salt substitute

Applied Science
3 HN recommenders · discussed 2020–2023
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About this video

Ben Krasnow of Applied Science builds and operates a simple mass spectrometer, using it to measure potassium isotopes in a salt substitute. He explains the design choices and the theory behind it.

Why it appears in the archive

Recommended as an expert-made DIY build that explains why the apparatus is designed as it is, though one commenter notes a missing baseline run.

AI-generated summary and labels from the source dataset; verify important details against the video. Source & credits.

From the Hacker News discussion

MertsA · 2020-02 · rec

You'd be interested in Ben Krasnow's DiY attempt. It's still understandable but he tries to explain why it's built the way it is and give you a good basis of the theory of operation. [VIDEO]

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anfractuosity · 2022-01 · rec

You might like - [VIDEO] ( DIY mass spectrometer measures potassium in dietary salt substitute ) by Ben Krasnow

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hsjqllzlfkf · 2023-06 · rec

The channels that I had in mind when I wrote that are channels by experts in their fields, which somehow often happen to be low production value - because you know real scientists are about substance, not style :-) So here's a random one in that category: this guy decided to try and build a mass spectrometer from scratch [VIDEO]

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CamperBob2 · 2020-05 · critical

Ben Krasnow took some steps in that direction: [VIDEO] As with his Raman setup, there were some good questions raised in the comments about whether he really saw the effect in question or just got lucky with plausible-appearing artifacts. It's hard to assess validity from the presented results alone, which is unfortunately common in Ben's videos. In the Raman video, he didn't test anything but a single styrofoam cup, and in the mass-spec video he didn't do the obvious baseline run with a clean filament. Ben's channel is one of those rare ones where the comments are worth reading. You can really see how easy it is for a scientist to inadvertently fool themselves and others. I often end up yelling at the screen, but it's still my favorite YouTube channel of all time.

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