The Effect of Floor Vibrations on NMR Spectra

NMR spectra are very sensitive to floor vibrations. This can be a problem especially when the equipment is installed on the upper floors of a building. The proton spectra of chloroform in the figure below were acquired on our INOVA 500 in room 416 of D'Iorio Hall. The left hand spectrum was acquired with the vibration isolation mounts of the magnet pumped up with air. The spectrum on the right was acquired under identical conditions with the magnet sitting on the floor.