In this lesson, students learn that plant extracts are mixtures of many chemical compounds and it is possible to separate these compounds using chromatography. The health benefits of a medicinal plant may be due to one compound or to a combination of chemical compounds working together. In the lab portion, students will do chromatography of a black marker to understand how a single liquid (black ink) is comprised of many different chemicals. They will also do chromatography with plant material to see if multiple components can be separated.
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