Chromotography Flashcards
Describe the 3 types of chromatography
Thin layer chromatography (TLC) - a plate is coated with a solid and a solvent moves up the plate
Column chromatography (CC) - a column is packed with a solid and a solvent moves down the column
Gas chromatography (GC) - a column is packed with a solid or with a solid solid coated by a liquid, and a gas is passed through the column under pressure and high temperature
What is chromatography used for ?
To separate and identify the components in a mixture
What does separation depend on?
The balance between solubility in the moving phase and retention by the stationary phase
What is used to identify different substances
Retention times
Rf values
use of mass spectrometery in chromatography
To analyse the components separated by GC
What is the stationary phase
A solid substance which the mixture passes over in order to be separated
What is the mobile phase
A liquid or gas which carries the mixture over the solid material
How is the mixture separated in the mobile phase
If a component of the mixture is highly soluble in the mobile phase it will travel along quickly with solvent
If low solubility then will travel slowly with the solvent
How is a mixture separated in stationary phase
If a component of the mixture has a high affinity to the stationery phase it will travel slowly
If a component of the mixture has a low affinity to the stationary phase it will travel quickly
What is the TLC plate
Thin piece of aluminium or glass which is coated in silica gel or aluminia which acts as stationary phase
How TLC chronographs my works
Samples of the mixture to be separated are dropped on a line on the bottom of the TLC plate
The TLC plate is suspended in a small amount of solvent (Eluant) which soaked up by the plates. The solvent is the mobile phase
Once dry the plate is examined under UV light or developed using chemical reagents to make spots visible
How can you determine number of components present in the mixture
The number of spots on the finished chromatogram
What does an Rf value show
How far a component has moved compared to solvent front
How to calculate Rf value
Rf = distance moved by component / distance moved by solvent front
Advantages of TLC
Faster than paper chromatography
Will work on very small samples
Can be used to determine when a chemical reaction is complete