Dependence of Calculated and Experimental propane Mass spectra upon electron voltage and molecular thermal energy

The Dempster-Nier 1,2 mass spectrometer permits the study of ion formation and dissociation processes under electron bombardment by analyzing the charged fragments for their mass to charge ratio, m/e. In this treatise experimental mass spectra of propane obtained on such an instrument are described for a broad range of bombarding electron energies. These results are then discussed terms of the quasi-equilibrium theory of mass spectra.