Unit 2 Learning Aim C - Undertake Chromatography techniques to identify
components in a mixture
The aim of chromatography is to separate mixtures and identify substances from components, you can
also find the purity of a chemical substance.
P6 - Explain the use of chromatographic techniques to separate mixtures
There are different types of chromatography but they all have the same principle which is to separate
mixtures into their components. It has two phases which are the stationary phase that remains fixed in
place while the mobile phase carries the components, from this you can find the purity of a chemical
substance.
Examples of chromatography include Paper chromatography and TLC Thin layer chromatography, which
are explained more in depth below:
Paper chromatography is a type of chromatography in which the stationary phase is a sheet of
chromatography paper and the mobile phase is a solvent, and you will find a constant condition between
the mobile and stationary phase, some substances travel at different speeds and some will travel further
than others.
TLC Thin Layer Chromatography is also a type of chromatography in which instead of paper, the
stationary phase is a thin layer of an inactive substance and is supported in a glass plate. TLC has some
advantages over paper chromatography in which the mobile phase moves more quickly through the
stationary phase and shows greater separation of the components in the mixture and makes it easier to
analyse.
Harvard Referencing:
● RSC Education. (n.d.). Chromatography: Techniques. [online] Available at:
https://edu.rsc.org/resources/chromatography-techniques/4010255.article [Accessed 17 Nov.
2021].
● Coskun, O. (2016). Separation techniques: Chromatography. Northern Clinics of Istanbul,
[online] 3(2), pp.156–160. Available at:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5206469/. [Accessed 17 Nov. 2021].
● Clark, J. (2016). thin layer chromatography. [online] Chemguide.co.uk. Available at:
https://www.chemguide.co.uk/analysis/chromatography/thinlayer.html. [Accessed 17 Nov. 2021].
● Hartley, J., Annets, F., Meunier, C., Llewellyn, R., Hocking, S., Peers, A. and Parmar, C.
(n.d.). Pearson BTEC National Applied Science. Pearson, pp.117–119. Undertake
Chromatography techniques to identify components in mixture. [Accessed 17 Nov. 2021].
, P5: Correctly use chromatographic techniques to produce chromatograms.
Paper Chromatography
The aim of paper chromatography is to separate inks from the mixture.
I used paper chromatogram in which I drew a pencil line of 2cm from the bottom of the paper,
then in this line I place three spots of different ink colours, then I placed the paper chromatogram
on the beaker which contained around 1.5 cm of distilled water, it contained less water because
the solvent should not touch the pencil line in the paper chromatogram.
Student observation: Once I submerged the paper chromatography the ink colours quickly started moving
up, which means they were polar towards the solvent.
I did not calculate Rf values for this chromatography, this chromatography was used as a practice and to
understand how chromatography works, I also did this paper chromatography because is similar to the
TLC chromatography, but instead of using paper chromatography its used thin layer chromatography.
Thin layer chromatography
The aim of the TLC chromatography is to separate spinach extract into some of its individual
components and compare purity of the component.
In this experiment I used a thin-layer Chromatography plate in which I drew a pencil line from 2
cm from the bottom of the layer, and I used spinach which I placed in a mortar and I added 3-4
drops of solution A and I started grinding until some liquid was made, I place this pigmentation
components in a mixture
The aim of chromatography is to separate mixtures and identify substances from components, you can
also find the purity of a chemical substance.
P6 - Explain the use of chromatographic techniques to separate mixtures
There are different types of chromatography but they all have the same principle which is to separate
mixtures into their components. It has two phases which are the stationary phase that remains fixed in
place while the mobile phase carries the components, from this you can find the purity of a chemical
substance.
Examples of chromatography include Paper chromatography and TLC Thin layer chromatography, which
are explained more in depth below:
Paper chromatography is a type of chromatography in which the stationary phase is a sheet of
chromatography paper and the mobile phase is a solvent, and you will find a constant condition between
the mobile and stationary phase, some substances travel at different speeds and some will travel further
than others.
TLC Thin Layer Chromatography is also a type of chromatography in which instead of paper, the
stationary phase is a thin layer of an inactive substance and is supported in a glass plate. TLC has some
advantages over paper chromatography in which the mobile phase moves more quickly through the
stationary phase and shows greater separation of the components in the mixture and makes it easier to
analyse.
Harvard Referencing:
● RSC Education. (n.d.). Chromatography: Techniques. [online] Available at:
https://edu.rsc.org/resources/chromatography-techniques/4010255.article [Accessed 17 Nov.
2021].
● Coskun, O. (2016). Separation techniques: Chromatography. Northern Clinics of Istanbul,
[online] 3(2), pp.156–160. Available at:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5206469/. [Accessed 17 Nov. 2021].
● Clark, J. (2016). thin layer chromatography. [online] Chemguide.co.uk. Available at:
https://www.chemguide.co.uk/analysis/chromatography/thinlayer.html. [Accessed 17 Nov. 2021].
● Hartley, J., Annets, F., Meunier, C., Llewellyn, R., Hocking, S., Peers, A. and Parmar, C.
(n.d.). Pearson BTEC National Applied Science. Pearson, pp.117–119. Undertake
Chromatography techniques to identify components in mixture. [Accessed 17 Nov. 2021].
, P5: Correctly use chromatographic techniques to produce chromatograms.
Paper Chromatography
The aim of paper chromatography is to separate inks from the mixture.
I used paper chromatogram in which I drew a pencil line of 2cm from the bottom of the paper,
then in this line I place three spots of different ink colours, then I placed the paper chromatogram
on the beaker which contained around 1.5 cm of distilled water, it contained less water because
the solvent should not touch the pencil line in the paper chromatogram.
Student observation: Once I submerged the paper chromatography the ink colours quickly started moving
up, which means they were polar towards the solvent.
I did not calculate Rf values for this chromatography, this chromatography was used as a practice and to
understand how chromatography works, I also did this paper chromatography because is similar to the
TLC chromatography, but instead of using paper chromatography its used thin layer chromatography.
Thin layer chromatography
The aim of the TLC chromatography is to separate spinach extract into some of its individual
components and compare purity of the component.
In this experiment I used a thin-layer Chromatography plate in which I drew a pencil line from 2
cm from the bottom of the layer, and I used spinach which I placed in a mortar and I added 3-4
drops of solution A and I started grinding until some liquid was made, I place this pigmentation
