Keenan Enrilsen Lab 5: Chromatography 23/7/21

Aim: To find the most effective solvent from a selection of solvents, for the
separation of the coloured dyes from black ink using chromatography paper.
Equipment and Procedure: See page 17 in STAWA Lab

Results/Observations:
Solvents Solubility Retention factor
NaCl water Yellow: 5cm 5/7.3 = 0.6849
Blue: 0.6 cm
Methylated spirits Purple: 5.5cm 5.5/5.5 = 1
Black: 3.5cm 3.5/5.5 = 0.6363
Tap water Blue: 0.3cm 0.3/7.3 = 0.04109
Kerosene Red: 1.8cm 1.8/7 = 0.2571
Yellow: 0.2cm 0.2/7 = 0.02857
Cloudy ammonia Blue: 0.7cm 0.7/6.8 = 0.1029

Processing of results/discussion:
The black ink separated into yellow, blue, red, purple, and black during the process
depending on the type of solvent used. The yellow, purple, and black components
were relatively polar as they all travelled a larger distance on the paper with a polar
solvent compared to blue and red. Both the blue and red moved further in non-polar
solvents.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, the black ink separated into some or all its components depending on
the type of solvent we used. We found that yellow and, purple and black were more
soluble in polar solvents and that red and blue were more soluble in non-polar
solvents.
Evaluation:
Our group did not see adequate separation of the ink into components in our
experiment most likely due to our placing of the ink too high on the chromatography
paper. We only observed separation in our methylated spirits set up, meaning we
had to use the values obtained by other groups for the rest of the solvents. If we
were to redo this experiment again, we would place the ink line lower down on the
chromatography paper.