Answer:
It can be difficult to separate molecules with nearly equal mass, such as CO (28.0106 u) and N2 (28.0134 u), using a mass spectrometer. One way to improve the separation of these molecules is to use a technique called isotope-ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS).
IRMS works by measuring the ratios of isotopes in a sample, which can help to distinguish between molecules with similar masses. For example, CO and N2 have different isotopic compositions, which means that they have different ratios of carbon-12 to carbon-13 and nitrogen-14 to nitrogen-15.
By measuring these isotopic ratios, IRMS can help to separate CO and N2 in a sample, even though they have nearly equal masses. This makes it a useful tool for monitoring air pollutants and other environmental samples.