mini-lab 3.3: Observe Dye Seperation - Corrigan

On the 15th of September, we participated in a group lab experiment in Mr. Wong's 6th period chemistry class. In the lab called, Observe Dye Separation, we watched what happened to dye as it separated to form different colors and cool patterns.
1. Record the number of distinct dyes you can identify on drawing of the round filter paper. Label the color bands.

In this image of the filter paper we can see about 3 distinct color changes in the dye. First from 0cm to about 4.2cm the color is a light orange/beige color. From around 4.2cm to 4.8cm the color is now a more orangey brown color. Finally, from 4.8cm to about 5.5cm the color appears to be a blueish black mixture.

Rf value = Distance (cm) traveled from base by solute/ Distance (cm) traveled from baseline by solvent

Solute (Water) distance = Roughly 5 cm

Solvent (dye) distance form baseline = about 5.5cm

5/5.5 = 0.91

91 percent water, however it is possible that some water was able to get all the way to the edge of the circle with the dye.

2. Infer why do you see different colors at different locations on the filter paper?
I think we can see different colors in different locations on the filter paper because the dye has separated and spread out. When the dye starts to move across the paper the water from the wick helps the dye move as well as separate it over the large area. That is why I think they color is lighter closer to the wick, because there is more water here to separate the dye and make the color not as intense as the edge of the circle.

3. Compare your chromatogram with those of your classmates. Explain any differences you might observe.

 In these two examples of classmates chromatograms, I see many differences between theirs and my groups'. For starters There's seem to be of overall lighter color. This might be because of the original amount of dye used to start or the size of the wick they used.



Another difference are the colors created. For starters, in the image above, it looks like the ink that was used was brown while my group used black. the brown made for nice color version with some light greens and reds even. As for the image on the right, it almost looks like they used a light black or dark blue shade which also turned our looking good.



Mr. Wong also gave extra credit to those who brought in a marker. I happened to be one of those people and for proof he told us to put a picture of us with it in our blog entry.