Introduction
¹When carrying out chromatography there would always involve there being a stationary phase and a mobile phase. The stationary phase is the filter paper that is used and the mobile phase is the liquid mixture. Chromatography has its different uses but is commonly used in crime scene investigations, in cases where blood is needed to be tested for traces of alcohol in hospitals chromatography is used also you’re able to find out the level of pollutants in water supplies. ¹
Method
1. Draw a pencil line 2cm from the bottom of the chromatography paper.
2. Make a small mark on the line where you will spot each dye and mark the dye name A B C and D depending on how many dyes you are testing.
3. Use a clean capillary tube to place a spot of each dye on the labelled areas on the paper
4. Fill the beaker with water approx. 1cm depth.
5. Place the paper into the cylinder.
6. Leave for 20 minutes for the water to rise up the paper.
7. When it reaches the top, remove the paper and leave to dry before examining.
8. Measure with a pencil the furthest distance travelled by the water as the solvent front and measure the distance in mm.
9. Once dry, measure the distance travelled by each of the components of the 4 dyes. Record your data in the table created.
10. Calculate the RF values to one decimal place. Show one of the calculations in full.
