Anorexia is a very common manifestation of disease. Cats that are eating ravenously present less of a diagnostic dilemma, as there is a shorter list of illnesses that result in increased appetite (diabetes, hyperthyroidism, pancreatic insufficiency and a few others).
The fragments that survive the journey through the analyzer shoot into the electron multiplier-the detector of the GCMS. The electron multiplier detects every ion of the selected mass that passes through the quadrupole analyzer. Electron multipliers use a process known as secondary electron emission. When the ions hit a surface, it causes the electrons in the outermost area of the atom to be released, which are known as secondary electrons.
The charge on an electron is -1. It is found in a region around the nucleus called the electron cloud. The mass of an electron is 9.10939 x 10-31 kg (1836 times lighter than the mass of a proton). The typical size of the electron cloud is usually 5 x 10-11 to 10-10 m in size, about 100,000 times larger than the nucleus.