Skip to content

Donate


Register Now!

STEAMfest
  • STEAMfest 2023 
    • Plan Your Visit
    • Register Now!
    • Activities
    • Village Square
    • Door Prizes
    • Past Years 
      • Live 2022
  • About 
    • Mission
    • History
    • Sponsors
    • News & Blog
    • Press
  • Get Involved 
    • Volunteer
    • Create An Activity
    • Become A Patron
    • Village Square 
      • Artisans & Vendors
      • Nonprofits
      • Food Trucks
  • Virtual
  • Contact
STEAMfest
Menu
Menu Close
  • STEAMfest 2023 
    • Plan Your Visit
    • Register Now!
    • Activities
    • Village Square
    • Door Prizes
    • Past Years 
      • Live 2022
  • About 
    • Mission
    • History
    • Sponsors
    • News & Blog
    • Press
  • Get Involved 
    • Volunteer
    • Create An Activity
    • Become A Patron
    • Village Square 
      • Artisans & Vendors
      • Nonprofits
      • Food Trucks
  • Virtual
  • Contact
Donate

STEAMfest Login

Lost your password?

Not Registered? Sign up

Sign Up

  • The password should be at least twelve characters long. To make it stronger, use upper and lower case letters, numbers, and symbols like ! " ? $ % ^ & )

Already registered? Signin

Chromatography

How to separate mixtures with the help of paper and alcohol

Chro­matog­ra­phy is a method for an­a­lyz­ing sub­stances by their sep­a­ra­tion into com­po­nents.  In this experiment, we’ll use alcohol to separate two different marker colors.

 

Work in a well-ven­ti­lat­ed room and in pro­tec­tive glass­es. Ob­serve safe­ty rules when work­ing with con­cen­trat­ed ethanol. Warn­ing! Only un­der adults su­per­vi­sion.

 

This activity has been provided by STEAMfest sponsor MEL Science!”

Step-by-step in­struc­tions 

Take a small sheet of thick pa­per which can fit in a beaker. Make three dots on the pa­per with mark­ers: black, blue, and a mix­ture of col­ors (black + blue). To make the dots on the same lev­el, draw a start­ing line with a pen­cil first. Now low­er the pa­per in the beaker with ethanol, about half a cen­time­ter from the bot­tom. Then seal the beaker, so the ethanol doesn’t evap­o­rate. Af­ter half an hour, ob­serve the move­ment and sep­a­ra­tion of col­ors on the pa­per.

Process de­scrip­tion

Chro­matog­ra­phy is a method for an­a­lyz­ing sub­stances by their sep­a­ra­tion into com­po­nents. The method was dis­cov­ered by Mikhail Tsvet, who sep­a­rat­ed col­or pig­ments of plants. In our ex­per­i­ment, we must se­lect the sol­vent which is con­tained in the mark­ers. This is usu­al­ly ethanol.
Due to the cap­il­lary ef­fect, the ethanol soaks the pa­per even­ly, tak­ing the dyes with it. The dyes in the mix­ture re­act dif­fer­ent­ly with the al­co­hol, so they rise at dif­fer­ent speeds.

Journal Questions
  1. Describe your results and optionally share a picture.
  2. Try using different colors. Are the results similar or different?
  3. Does the type of paper make in the results?

Earn badges and qualify for prize drawing by registering and answering journal questions. It's fun and easy!

REGISTER
LOGIN

 

Want to learn more about chro­matog­ra­phy then check out this video:

 

Topics

Science
Grade Level
2-3
4-5
6-8
9-12
K-1

Creator

Mel Science

Mel Science

Science experiments for kids, delivered to your door!

Materials

  • black and blue mark­ers
  • 96% ethanol
  • sheet of thick pa­per
  • beaker
  • lid
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2023 STEAMfest – Woodlawn School

  Photography by: Georgina Emily Photography

  • steamfest@woodlawnschool.org