Angela, Alexia, Evelyn and Samantha

Ibu Kusumawati Hutabarat

Science 9
15 September 2015
Chromatography Investigation
Objective / Aim of Project: The objective of this experiment is to find out which pen,
out of five different pens, was used to doodle by conducting a chromatography experiment.
Research Question: Our experiment is based on the following research question,
Which brand of blue pen is used to draw on paper? To find the answer to the research question,
we will have to measure the Rf Value of the 5 different pens pigments.
Hypothesis: Our hypothesis is to find the pen that is used to draw the doodle, we have to
compare the pigments and whichever one has the most similarity is the pen that is used.
Independent Variables: The Independent variable in this experiment is the five different
brands of Blue pen inks which includes Muji, Sarasa, Stabilo, Marina Bay Sands, and Palphot
(Jerusalem). The five different blue pens is the Independent variable because it is what
determines the Rf value in the experiment. The five different inks will have five different results
like different distances moved by the compound and by the solvent.
Dependent Variables: The Dependent variable in this experiment is the Rf value. The Rf
value is the Dependent variable because the result depends on the Independent variable which is
the five different blue pen inks. The result of Rf value depends on the distance that is made by the
different ink pens.
Controlled Variables: The Controlled variables in this experiment are the amount of
solvent (alcohol), size and thickness of the filter paper, and size of the beaker.

The amount of solvent we use for this experiment is a Controlled variable since

we are the ones who decide how much solvent we need for this experiment. Therefore,
we know when to stop pouring the solvent and we know the amount of solvent we pour
into the beaker.
- The size and thickness of the filter paper is one of the Controlled variables
because we are able to measure and cut out the paper to the size that we prefer and we
think is suitable for the experiment. For the thickness of the paper, we are able to control
it since we will be using the same kind of filter paper throughout the whole experiment,
so the thickness of the paper would not change. We are able to know if it is the same filter
paper or not.
- Lastly, the size of the beaker is a Controlled variable because we are able to pick
specific sizes of beakers that fits best to the purpose of the experiment. The size of the
beaker has to be the same size because it might affect some factors such as how quickly
the solvent travels or spreads around the filter paper.
Uncontrolled Variables: The uncontrolled variables of this experiment are the separation
of the pigments, the amount of ink placed on the filter paper and the temperature.
-

The separation of the pigments: The separation of the pigments is an uncontrolled

variables of this experiment because this is something that we are also trying to figure
out. The separation of the pigments also depends on the five different brands of blue pen
inks although that is not the focus of this experiment.
- The amount of ink placed on the filter paper: The amount of ink placed on the
filter paper is an uncontrolled variable of this experiment because we cannot control the
size of the dot of blue pen ink from each brand on the filter paper. We cannot do that
because there is not an instrument or tool to measure the dot on the filter paper. And it
also depends on the thickness of the pen as well.

Temperature: The temperature of the room is an uncontrolled variable because we

cannot be sure of the room temperature. Even though there is a way to measure room
temperature, it is hard to control it since it might change due to the weather and other
factors. We also conduct the experiment in different times such as study periods or lunch
periods and temperature can change. Since the beginning of the experiment we have
decided that temperature is something we cannot control in this experiment so we do the
experiment without thinking about the temperature.
Method:
STEP 1 (PREPARING THE ITEMS)
1. The first step of our experiment will be to cut around 3-4 filter
papers. The size of the filter paper has to be cut 9cm (length) times 5cm (width).
The filter paper has to be cut neatly because it affects the separation of the
pigments. After cutting out the filter paper, draw a baseline with a pencil from the
bottom tip of the paper, with a height of 1 cm.
2. Prepare 5 different blue-inked pens (Pentel, Palphot, Muji, Marina
Bay sands, and Venetian Pen) and a piece of scrap paper.
3. Ask someone else to doodle on a piece of scrap paper using one of
the blue-inked pens (Pentel, Palphot, Muji, Marina Bay sands, and Venetian Pen).

STEP 2 (DOING THE EXPERIMENT)

4. Take one of the cut filter papers and make five dots with five
different blue-inked pens on the baseline of the filter paper ( Pentel, Palphot,
Muji, Marina Bay sands, and Venetian Pen).

5. Make sure to remember which pens you have used. This can be
easily done by writing the name of the pen under the ink dot or simply putting the
pens under the ink-dots of the used pen and take a picture of it.
6. Take a 250 ml beaker and fill it with 75 ml of ethanol.
7. Tape the filter paper used in step 4, onto a pencil and hang the
pencil on the beaker with 75 mL of ethanol. Start timer for 10 minutes. (look at
step 10 after 10 minutes are over).
8. While waiting, pour some drops of ethanol onto the scrap piece of
paper used before in step 3. Rub a toothpick to the ethanol that was dropped onto
the scrap paper to get some color on the toothpick.
9. Afterwards with another filter paper (9 x 5 cm with a 1 cm baseline
drawn using pencil), draw a dot using the ink from the toothpick.
10. Repeat step 6 and 7 using the filter paper from step 9.
11. After 10 minutes, take out the first filter paper which includes all
the ink dots from the five blue pens and lay it down to prevent the water from
continuing to go up.
12. Then take out the filter paper that consist of the ink from the
doodle after ten minutes as well and lay it down on the tray as well.
13. Wait for two minutes for both filter paper to fully dry and compare.
Compare the pigments on the second paper with the pigments on the first paper
and find out which one has the most similar pigment.
14. The one with the similar pigment is the one that is used to draw
with the filter paper. To measure the Rf value we need to use this formula:

15. Refer to the order of the pen to know which pen ink is which.
Rf Value Trials Table

Blue Pen Ink

Trials

Brands

Distance moved

Distance moved

by the

by the solvent

Rf Value

compound
1st

2.2 cm

2.7 cm

0.815

2nd

2.5 cm

2.7 cm

0.926

3rd

2.1 cm

1.7 cm

1.235

Final

2.1 cm

2.5 cm

0.84

1st

0 cm

2.7 cm

2nd

0 cm

2.8 cm

3rd

0 cm

1.6 cm

Final

1.0 cm

2.5 cm

Marina Bay

1st

2.5 cm

3 cm

0.833

Sands

2nd

2 cm

2.7 cm

0.741

3rd

1.6 cm

2.6 cm

0.615

Final

1.8 cm

2.5 cm

0.72

1st

2.5 cm

3 cm

0.833

2nd

2.1 cm

2.6 cm

0.808

3rd

1.9 cm

2.1 cm

0.905

Final

1.8 cm

2.5 cm

0.72

1st

2.6 cm

2 cm

1.3

2nd

2.5 cm

2.8 cm

0.893

3rd

2.6 cm

1.2 cm

2.167

Final

2.2 cm

2.5 cm

0.88

Muji

Sarasa

Jerusalem

Stabilo

Graph: