Mass spectrometry is an analytical technique used to measure the mass-to-charge ratio ($m/z$) of ions. The process typically involves ionizing a sample—converting neutral molecules into charged particles—and then introducing these ions into a vacuum chamber. Within this chamber, the separated ions are accelerated and passed through a mass analyzer, which separates them based on their unique mass characteristics. After separation, the ions strike a detector, generating an electrical signal proportional to the abundance of each detected ion. This resulting spectrum provides a highly detailed molecular "fingerprint," enabling the determination of molecular weight, the identification of unknown compounds, and the analysis of complex mixtures across fields such as proteomics, metabolomics, and materials science.