Mass analyzers representative resolving powers

Mass analyzer Representative resolving power values... 

Therefore, a mass analyzer capable of resolving powers of 26,000 or better is required to reveal the presence of two ions (representing two distinct compounds). If an analyzer with RP< 26,000 is used, the presence of a second compound would be overlooked. Additionally, attempts to measure the exact m/z value of the peak will not provide a true value, but rather some average value (e.g., m/z 937.5072, assuming the compounds produce signals of comparable intensity) that will be of little use in identifying either unknown compound. Ambiguous results such as these only complicate qualitative analysis efforts. 

There are two very important performance specifications of a mass analyzer that govern its ability to separate an analyte peak from a spectral interference. The first is the resolving power (R), which in traditional mass spectrometry is represented by... 

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