Organic Muddiest Point

In chapter 13, my muddiest point is basically not being able to read and understand M+1 and the base peak in a mass spectrometry. I understand that the mass spectrometry is used for determining the molecular weight of a compound and identifying components of a compound. So as I explored the internet and I found the website: http://www.cbu.edu/~ddawson/212/Handouts/Mass%20Spectrometry%20Handout.pdf. This website was a handout and it helped me so much. The handout basically stated that, if the particle of interest is not positively charged, it can not be seen. This handout gave an example of the mass spectrum of toluene. In a mass spectrometry, a molecule is vaporized and ionized, usually by a bombardment with a beam of high-energy electrons; toluene has a molecular weight of 92.  Also the M+1 peak is one mass unit greater than the mass ion peak, which is 93. Finally the base peak, which is the peak with the relative intensity of 100%, is caused by the most stable cation. For toluene, the base peak is 91; the base peak is caused by the most stable cation and is also the tallest peak in the spectrum. Lastly, the handout went on to explain how to read a mass spectrum, which said to see if the M+ peak is even or odd. If it is even the molecule contains an even number of nitrogens (0 being even), like in toluene above which is 92. If the M+ peak is odd, the molecule contains an odd number of nitrogens. It also shows a comparison between the M+ and M+2 peaks. Overall, this website/handout was a great source and a lot of help because it just simply broke it down a lot better then the book did.