INTRODUCTION 

Experiment with Paper Chromatography

Chromatography is a technique used to separate a mixture or solution into its individual components. There are several different types of chromatography, including thin-layer, column, and paper chromatography. Paper chromatography uses materials that make it accessible for chemistry exploration at the K-12 level.

Paper chromatography helps students discover the color molecules used to make the color our eyes perceive in a candy coating, for example, or a marker or bottle of ink. When compared using paper chromatography, three different brands of black water-based markers may all show different color molecules in the ink. Similarly, candies of a specific color may all look the same, but paper chromatography may reveal that their composition is very different.

In a paper chromatography experiment, a small amount of a sample solution is placed on a strip of chromatography paper. The chromatography paper is then suspended in a solvent. As the solvent moves up the paper, the individual components of the sample solution separate out in bands of individual color.

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