[janos1220]

The exam question was: How many signals for the fragments attributed to alpha cleavage do you expect in the mass spectrum after collision-induced fragmentation of tert-butanol?

My answer would be one signal (C3H6OH+), because the other product (CH3•) is not detectable. The correct answer is 2. Am I missing something?

[Babcock_Hall]

I agree that a methyl radical will not be observed by mass spectrometry.  However, experimentally more than one fragment is observed in the NIST mass spectrum.  Can you think of other stable cations that are possible?  I am not sure whether or not these other cleavages are what was expected in this question.

[janos1220]

I think the prof thought of the signal caused through inductive cleavage too

[Babcock_Hall]

That terminology is not particularly familiar to me.  However, I thought about creation of a tertiary-butyl cation, which could be generated in such a process.