Question

How does polarity affect chromatography?

Answer 1

Hint Before solving this question, first we have to understand the term chromatography. Chromatography is a method for separating mixtures based on the difference in their speed at which these particles will migrate over or by a stationary phase. There are different types of chromatography which includes paper chromatography, column chromatography, partition chromatography, adsorption chromatography etc.

Complete answer:
Chromatography separates the chemical mixtures of proteins or different chemicals into various different components on the basis of difference in their speed. The mixtures are separated when the mixture is distributed between the two phases known as mobile phase and stationary phase. If we talk about the effect of polarity on chromatography, polarity has a huge effect on how much attracted a chemical substance is to other substances.
Some molecules are positively charged and some molecules are negatively charged. For example, the particles which are positively charged are attracted to the negative side of the particle which is negatively charged. The larger the difference, means that more polar the compound is. Polarity of the solvent affects the speed of the chromatography process.

So, we can say that, if we increase the polarity of the solvent all the other components present in the mixture move faster during the chromatography experiment.

Note: During chromatography do not get confused between the partition technique and the adsorption technique. The partition technique is used for the separation in liquid-liquid substances and on the other hand adsorption technique is used in the separation of the solid-liquid substances.