Paper Chromatography Essay

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Complex mixtures can be separated and analyze using physical methods. One of it is chromatography. Two components in a mixture are separated by using the different distribution between two non- miscible phases which is stationary phase and mobile phase. The stationary phase exists as liquid or solid and it is fixed in a system. The mobile phase is a fluid which streams through the chromatographic system. In general, the process of chromatography is about a mixture of various components enter the chromatographic process and different components are flushed in different rates through the system. The mixture migrates at different rates over adsorptive materials during the separation. In short, the principle of chromatographic separation describes …show more content…

Paper chromatography experiment was done by drawing dots on the pencil line using magic pen of three different colours (red, blue and green). The chromatography paper was then placed into the beaker which contains acetone. For thin layer chromatography (TLC), flowers were used in this experiment. Paste-like form of flowers was extracted by grounding the flowers in a mortar and pestle. By using toothpick, spotting points were spotted on TLC plate. TLC plate was put into the beaker with spots towards the bottom of the …show more content…

The different components of the ink mixtures travel accordingly to different rates. The mixtures are then separated into different coloured spots depending on the compound's preference. The mobile phase is solvent in thin and paper chromatography.. Acetone is generally used as dipping reagent in chromatographic process because it shows the characteristics of a good solvent since it is important to choose a solvent for the color reagent in which the substances to be detected are insoluble (Joseph Sherma, 2013). Capillary action causes the solvent to flow up the paper at a uniform rate. A line called as solvent front is created across the paper .As the solvent level increased; the solvent dissolved the ink into its components. The rate of dissolving in the solvent differs because of the different markers which contains different components. The farther the ink travels upwards, the more it is attracted to the

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