Lesson 7 of 8

Chromatography

Goal: Use chromatography to separate and identify substances.

Puzzles for this lesson

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A strip of paper in a beaker. A black ink spot has spread into blue, pink and yellow smears

Chromatography separates the coloured substances in a mixture, such as the dyes in an ink.

  • A spot of ink goes on a pencil line near the bottom of the paper, just above the level of the solvent. Pencil does not dissolve, so the line stays put.
  • The solvent soaks up the paper and carries the dyes with it.
  • Each dye travels a different distance, so the dyes separate. On the same paper, the same dye always travels the same distance.

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Key words in this lesson

Mixture Two or more substances mixed together, not joined

Solvent The liquid that does the dissolving

Chromatography Separates dissolved coloured substances

For teachers: AQA 3.5.2 · Pearson Edexcel 13.1 · Cambridge 8Cp.02