Paper Chromatography Flashcards
What is the purpose of this lab?
Separate and characterize pigments in spinach leaves the construct absorption spectra for each pigment and determine what wavelength of light each absorbs.
What is the stationary and mobile phase in paper chromatography?
Stationary phase: paper
Mobile phase: organic/nonpolar solvent
How to calculate Rf value?
Rf= distance mixture travels/distance of the solvent
Why do you put it in a closed chamber?
To saturate it with organic vapours.
How do you detect the spots on paper?
Colour, fluorescence, chemical reaction via spray, radioactivity.
What is the basis of separation of the different pigments?
The differential solubility of the pigments in the water (in the filter paper that is the stationary phase) and organic solvent (which is the mobile phase).
How did we characteriize the pigments after separating them?
Characterized them using spectrophotometry.
What is a spectrophotometer?
It is a device that passes monochromatic light though a sample and measures the amount of light absorbed or transmitted.
What is the purpose of the internal blanks?
Determine the amount of light absorbed by a specific solute in solution.
What colour light does chlorophyll f absorb?
Red light
