Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry argon ions. Making the plasma from argon, instead of other gases, has several advantages. First, argon is abundant (in the atmosphere, as a result of the radioactive decay of potassium) and therefore cheaper than other noble gases. Argon also has a higher first ionization potential than all other elements except He, F, and Ne. Because of this high ionization energy, the reaction (Ar + e → Ar) is more energetically favorable than the reaction (M + e → M). This ensures that the sample remains ionized (as M) so that the mass spectrometer can detect it. Argon can be purchased
Atmosphere of Uranus from the analysis of "Voyager 2" far infrared and radio occultation observations. The currently accepted value is in the upper troposphere, which corresponds to a mass fraction . This value is very close to the protosolar helium mass fraction of , indicating that helium has not settled towards the centre of the planet as it has in the gas giants. The third most abundant constituent of the Uranian atmosphere is methane , the presence of which has been known for some time as a result of the ground-based spectroscopic observations. Methane possesses prominent absorption bands in the visible and near-infrared,