Classification of aerosol particles according to mass-to-charge ratio

A prototype instrument which classifies aerosol particles according to mass-to-charge ratio was constructed. This classifier makes use of the motion of aerosol particles under coexistence of centrifugal and electrostatic forces. An experiment was conducted to evaluate the performance of the classifier in which the mass distribution of polystyrene latex spheres of 0.309 mu m nominal diameter was measured. The peak position observed in the experimental mass distribution spectra was found to agree well with theoretical prediction.