Cambridge IGCSE Chemistry · Syllabus 0620 · Experimental Techniques and Chemical Analysis
Paper Chromatography
What is Paper Chromatography?
A method for separating a mixture of soluble coloured substances. Small concentrated spots of the mixture are placed on a pencil baseline near one end of a piece of chromatography paper, and the paper is stood in a suitable solvent with the solvent level below the baseline. The solvent travels up the paper and carries the substances with it by different amounts, so they separate into individual spots, which can be seen directly because the substances are coloured. Cambridge IGCSE Chemistry 0620 sets this at Core; separating colourless substances, which needs a locating agent, is Supplement content for Extended candidates.
This definition is part of the Experimental Techniques and Chemical Analysis chapter in Cambridge IGCSE Chemistry.