One method for determining the amount of corn in early Native American diets is the stable isotope ratio analysis (SIRA) technique. As corn photosynthesizes, it concentrates the isotope carbon-13, whereas most other plants concentrate carbon-12. Overreliance on corn consumption can then be correlated with certain diseases, because corn lacks the essential amino acid lysine. Archaeologists use a mass spectrometer to separate the 12 C and 13 C isotopes in samples of human remains. Suppose you use a velocity selector to obtain singly ionized (missing one electron) atoms of speed 8.50 km/s, and you want to bend them within a uniform magnetic field in a semicircle of diameter 25.0 cm for the 12 C. The measured masses of these isotopes are 1.99×10−26kg(12C) and 2.16×10−26kg(13C). (a) What strength of magnetic field is required?
(b) What is the diameter of the 13 C semicircle?
(c) What is the separation of the 12 C and 13 C ions at the detector at the end of the semicircle? Is this distance large enough to be easily observed?