text: Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) is a two-dimensional chromatography technique that combines the separation technique of gas chromatography with the identification technique of mass spectrometry. GC-MS is the single most important analytical tool for the analysis of volatile and semi-volatile organic compounds in complex mixtures. It works by first injecting the sample into the GC inlet where it is vaporized and pushed through a column by a carrier gas, typically helium. The analytes in the sample are separated based upon their interaction with the coating of the column, or the stationary phase, and the carrier gas, or the mobile phase. The compounds eluted from the column are converted into ions via electron impact (EI) or chemical ionization (CI) before traveling through the mass analyzer. The mass analyzer serves to separate the ions on a mass-to-charge basis. Popular choices perform the same function but differ in the way that they accomplish the separation. The analyzers typically used with GC-MS are the time-of-flight mass analyzer and the quadrupole mass analyzer. After leaving the mass analyzer, the analytes reach the detector and produce a signal that is read by a computer and used to create a gas chromatogram and mass spectrum. Sometimes GC-MS utilizes two gas chromatographers in particularly complex samples to obtain considerable separation power and be able to unambiguously assign the specific species to the appropriate peaks in a technique known as GCxGC-(MS). Ultimately, GC-MS is a technique utilized in many analytical laboratories and is a very effective and adaptable analytical tool.