Separating a Mixture of Coloured Compounds

Aim:
To separate the different pigments in inks and dyes using chromatography.

 Equipment:

• Ink from ballpoint pens
• Marker pens or food coloring
• 250mL beaker
• Strip of filter paper
• Scissors
• Adhesive tape 
• pencil or ice block stick
• chromatography solution

Method:

1. Cut strip of filter paper that is long enough to reach the bottom of your beaker and able to wrap around your pencil or ice-block stick.
2. Rule a line approximately 2 cm from the bottom piece of your paper.
3. fill your beaker with enough chromatography solution to fill your beaker to a depth of 1cm
4. place a dot of ink above the ruled line on your filter paper. you need to produce a concentrated dot of ink so repeated applications are necessary.
5. Suspend the strip of paper from the pencil or stick.