Article: Isotopic Analysis

Isotopic Analysis

ALEXANDR IOFFE

Varieties of the same chemical element, but with different atomic weights, are called isotopes. Isotopic analysis (IA) is the analysis of the isotope composition of a sample. Samples in IA can contain almost anything: different objects of everyday life, pieces of rocks, pieces of wood, samples of tissue taken from a human body, chemical compounds, and so on. In general, and with some degree of simplification, isotopic analysis is used for identification of a sample and for the determination of its age. Isotopic analysis is based upon the use of mass spectrometers or radioactive radiation counters. A mass spectrometer is a device that ...

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