Separating Colors with Paper Chromatography
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Objective
I can explain how paper chromatography separates mixtures of coloured substances, like inks in felt-tip pens, using a solvent.
Part 1 of 3
Warm-up video
Unknown Channel · 5:00
We don't generate video — this one is by Unknown Channel on YouTube. The practice questions and exit ticket below were drafted by AI for this objective, and every question is editable in the teacher guide.
Part 2 of 3
Practice
7 questions
Explain in your own words why a pencil is used to draw the start line in paper chromatography instead of a pen.
Imagine you are using paper chromatography to separate the dyes in a black marker. Explain what it means if one of the dyes travels further up the paper than the others.
Part 3 of 3
Exit ticket
Quick comprehension check
“You perform paper chromatography on a mixture of two blue inks. After the experiment, one ink has travelled further up the paper than the other. Explain why this happened in terms of the inks' solubility in the solvent. A student uses paper chromatography to separate the dyes in a green food colouring. They find that the green colour separates into a blue dye that travels a long distance and a yellow dye that travels a short distance. Explain what this tells you about the relative solubility of the blue and yellow dyes in the solvent used. Imagine you are using paper chromatography to test a new brand of felt-tip pens. One pen's ink separates into three distinct colours after the experiment. Explain how the different distances travelled by each colour relate to their solubility in the solvent.”
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