Chromatography Lab Conclusion

Discussion and Conclusion Gurjit and I were able to collect two different colored bands. The first band, which was yellow, was of beta-carotene while the second, green band was of chlorophyll. The graphs presented in the protocols were used to identify the two colored bands. For instance, in the graph provided of beta-carotene, the top two peaks looked similar to the top two peaks in our experimental beta-carotene graph (Graph 5.01). Furthermore, the graph of chlorophyll on the protocol also had more peaks, like our experimental chlorophyll graph (Graph 5.02). Moreover, there are four peak in the graph of chlorophyll in the protocols, there were also four peaks in our experimental graph of chlorophyll (Graph 5.02). Lastly, chlorophyll is a green pigment so the green band should have been of chlorophyll while the yellow band should have been of beta-carotene. Moreover, we were also able to separate the dyes. By separating the dyes, we were able to note that …show more content…
Different polar compounds have the ability to show the different Rf values. Regardless, whether both column and paper chromatography are good, columns chromatography would be the better method in separating large quantities of compounds. Paper chromatography, on the other hand, is used to identify the polarity system to the column chromatography, or it can also be useful in separating colored compounds with small quantities. My hypothesis was supported since the paper chromatography for the dyes were better separated than the spinach extract chromatography, based on Rf values. For instance, the Rf values for the dyes were between 0.3-0.7, with the exception of red #3 and red #40 (Table 5.1). While the Rf values for the spinach extract were either too low or too high. For instance, the yellow pigment at 7-10cm was 0.985 which indicates that the compound was very soluble as well as polar (Table