Question

A child wanted to separate the mixture of dyes constituting a sample of ink. He marked a line by the ink on the filter paper and placed the filter paper in a glass containing water as shown in the figure. The filter paper was removed when the water moved near the top of the filter paper.
(a) What would you expect to see, if the ink contains three different coloured components?
(b) Name the technique used by the child.
(c) Suggest one more application of this technique.

Answer 1

(a) Three different coloured spots are obtained on the strip at different heights.
(b) Chromatography (paper chromatography) technique is used.
(c) The chromatography method is also employed to separate drugs from the blood.