Question

Give reason for the following.
 Why do different colors present in the ink rise to different levels during paper chromatography?

Answer 1

Hint: Before answering this question, we should know what chromatography is. It is a technique to separate, purify and test compounds. In this process, we want the mixture to be separated on a stationary phase (it can be solid or liquid) and a pure solvent like water or any gas moves slowly over the stationary phase, carrying components separately depending on their solubility in the pure solvent.

Complete answer:
The process of separating the solutes that are dissolved in the same solvent is known as chromatography. The mixture of two or more colours (dye) dissolved in water forms the ink. The different colors that are present in ink have different solubility in water. The component which is more soluble rises above faster in the strip of filter paper whereas the component which is less soluble travels less distance in the filter paper. This is the reason why different colours present in the ink rise to different levels during paper chromatography.
There are four types of chromatography:
Liquid chromatography
Gas chromatography
Thin-layer chromatography
Paper chromatography

Note:
Principles of chromatography:
It is a separation method in which the analyte is joined together within a liquid or gaseous mobile phase that is pumped through a stationary phase. In this, one phase is hydrophobic and the other one is lipophilic. The components of the analyte interact differently with these phases. They spend more or less time interacting with the stationary phase depending on their polarity and are thus retarded to a greater or lesser extent. This leads to the separation of the different components that are present in the sample.