The Chemical Shift of Different Protons

NMR would not be very valuable if all protons absorbed at the same frequency. You'd see a signal that indicates the presence of hydrogens in your sample, but any fool knows there's hydrogen in organic molecules. What makes it useful is that different protons usually appear at different chemical shifts (d). So, we can distinguish one kind of proton from another. Why do different protons appear at different d? There are several reasons, one of which is shielding. The electrons in a bond shield the nuclei from the magnetic field. So, if there is more electron density around a proton, it sees a slightly lower magnetic field, less electron density means it sees a higher magnetic field:

How do the electrons shield the magnetic field? By moving. A moving charge creates a magnetic field, and the field created by the moving electrons opposes the magnetic field of our NMR machine. It's not a huge effect, but it's enough to enable us to distinguish between different protons in our sample.