Paper Chromatography

Paper Chromatography can be used to separate out different things. When you mix different colours together you can get a wide range of colours but by using paper chromatography, we can separate out the different pigments that were used to make them. 

The first thing you need to do is get a piece of kitchen roll and using a ruler and a pencil draw a line near the bottom. You are using a pencil because pencil will not move. You draw the line so that you know your starting point. You can then get your felt tip pens and draw some big spots of colour at even distances along the line

You are then going to dip the kitchen roll into a bowl of water. You just want the bottom of the kitchen roll to touch the water. You don’t want to soak or drop the kitchen roll.  You should see that the water starts to move up the length of the kitchen roll and as it does the ink starts to move with it. Now as the ink moves you will see that it starts to separate out as the different pigments in the ink move at different speeds. 

Why don’t you experiment with different colours and patterns. You will see that some colours separate out more than others and some colours move faster than others

To see the video tutorial for this activity, visit the Surrey Libraries Facebook Page or the Surrey Libraries YouTube Channel.