Mass Spectra

In this Activity, students solve puzzles that are analogous to finding the amino acid sequence of a peptide using mass spectrometry. Students identify words that have been broken into letters or groups of letters. In many textbooks instrumental analysis and various types of spectrometry are mentioned only in passing. This Activity provides a way to cover a complex topic more completely and could also be offered as an enrichment activity for students, or as an exercise in analytical thinking.