Paper Chromatography Lab Report Example

Theory – Paper Chromatography

Most of the beverages that are available in the market nowadays are coloured which is due to the adage of organic and synthetic colours to them. Where organic colours have no impact on food quality synthetic ones are very harmful. So in order to find out whether you are drinking a beverage with the natural colour or synthetic a lab experiment can be performed through the paper chromatography method. In this method, the solution is transferred to a beaker having chromatography paper placed.

When the agitation and paper chromatography process will be performed in the lab there will be a separation of organic and inorganic compounds occur. The organic compound can be identified with their colours which accumulate on one side with the organic solution added at the time of experiment leaving behind the inorganic food colour which is visible easily. In this way, we can check out the contamination of the beverages in the lab with food colour.

Apparatus – Paper Chromatography

Lab Coat, chromatography paper, ninhydrin solution, beaker, beverages (coloured), etc.

Experiment – Paper Chromatography

1. Take a coloured beverage and put it into a beaker up to the one-third level of the beaker. Now add ninhydrin solution to the given content of the beaker and shake it gently.
2. Try to use a chromatography paper to get the result of the adulteration of organic and inorganic colours that are used in the solution.
3. The organic colours can be seen and identified on the paper easily with the other organic acids that are added artificially.
4. If there is any inorganic impurity in the beverage it will leave behind in the isolation.
5. This is how we can use the process of paper chromatography very usually to check the sample of food where colours are used too often.
6. While the organic content of the solution accumulates to one side of the chromatography it does not happen with the impure synthetic colours which have the tendency to remains separately.
7. This is how the inference can be obtained easily in the given experiment.

Inferences – Paper Chromatography

The inferences that can be made out from the above experiment are that there are no added impurities in the given beverage as the quantity of inorganic content in the solution is very low which can be neglected easily. So we can say that there is no adulteration in the beverage which can affect the health of a person drinking it.

Precautions – Paper Chromatography

1. Do not put the entire beverage solution into the beaker filling it up to the rim because you have to save the space for ninhydrin solution as well.
2. 2. Try to agitate the solution very well to perform the experiment with utmost authenticity.
3. Always manage to wear a lab coat so that no harm can occur to you from the chemicals being used in the experiment.
4. The chromatography paper must be of superior quality to carry out the experiment easily without much trouble.
5. Have a keen eye to observe the solution and its elements carefully without missing any single detail.

Applications -Paper Chromatography

1. The experiment is applicable to stop the heinous crimes that are being carried out by the shopkeepers by selling beverages with synthetic colours which are harmful to their health.
2. It is very important to have such methods for checking the food sample and passing them for final supply in the market by the health and food department which ensure the minimum standards of the food.
3. Paper chromatography is also used for the purpose of knowing the DNA molecules in a given solution in forensic science where rape and other crimes are committed by criminals on regular basis.

Conclusion

The experiment performed here is capable of finding the truth about the mixture of the compounds that are organic and inorganic compounds with the help of organic solution added to it which separates out the food colours which were natural and no other content left behind in the solution which shows the result of the experiment very clearly. This type of processor technique can be used in different fields where science plays a significant role to figure out many things on the basis of organic and inorganic mixture separation.