Instrumental Peak Distortion I. Relaxation Time Effects

Abstract

Distortion of a Gaussian curve due to the effect of a finite instrument time constant is first considered using the exact integral solution and the expected changes in peak shape and peak separation for a concentration range of down to 1 ppm are shown. It is then established that Fourier analysis can be used to produce a relatively simple approximation to a Gaussian function, from which changes in peak width, height and position can be readily obtained. Finally the convolution integral is introduced to enable the effect of two independent time constants to be evaluated. © 1969, American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.