Experiment #4

Title Paper Chromatography

Date 6/6/2021
Skill:  PD 
Problem Statement:  John believes that callaloo and green ink colours have the same pigment. His friend
Thomas thinks otherwise. Plan and design an experiment to validate John’s belief. 
Hypothesis:  Callaloo and green ink colours have the same pigment.
Aim To investigate if callaloo and green ink colours contain the same pigment.
Apparatus/ Material Filter Paper, Ruler, Pencil, Distilled Water, Capillary Tube, Beaker,
Measuring Cylinder, Ethanol, Mortar and pestle, Callaloo and green ink
Method
1. Take a filter paper strip, draw a line with a PENCIL above 4cm from one end and
mark a dot using the pencil in the center of the line.
2. Place the callaloo leaves into the mortar then add 5ml of distilled water the use the
pestle to crush the callaloo leaves into a dark green paste.
3. Take a capillary tube, dip it into the beaker containing the mixture green ink and
the Mortar containing the mixture of callaloo and distilled water (dark green paste).
Using the capillary tube and put a drop of mixture in the center of the line and let it
dry and repeat twice.
4. Repeat step 3 for the other mixture.
5. Measure 5 ml of distilled water in a measuring cylinder and pour it in a beaker.
6. Measure 5 ml of ethanol in a measuring cylinder and pour it in the same beaker
used in step 5 and then mix the contents in the beaker with a capillary tube.
7. Place the filter papers into the beaker vertically and leave them for 5 minutes.
8. Record and tabulate the results in a table.

Variables
Controlled Variables – Temperature at which the experiment will be carried out in
room temperature, volume & concentration of extraction and Solvent volume.
Manipulated Variables – Pigment solubility
Responding Variables- The distance that the pigments move, on the filter paper.
Expected Results
Treatment of Results: Title:

Color of Ink Distance each Color Traveled Distance Solvent Traveled (Cm)
(cm)
Green ink
Callaloo (dark green)

Assumptions Handling the paper with wet hands allows for additional uncontrolled moisture to the paper
which will interfere with separation of components.
Precautions Do not use a pen to draw the line on the filter paper

Sources of Errors Not making each dot of solution, on the paper, dense enough before allowing the
dots to diffuse across the paper. When applying the ions, if too much is used, it
could lead to bleeding through in the paper. Furthermore, using too less could lead
to difficulty in observation.
Limitation
1. Large quantity of sample cannot be applied on paper chromatography.
2. In quantitative analysis paper chromatography is not effective.
3. Complex mixture cannot be separated by paper chromatography.