Joshua Greenspan

Kusumawati Hutabarat
Science Chromatography Lab Report
15 September 2015

Type of
Alcohol

Colors/Pigme
nt

Methanol

Pink
Orange
Yellow
Grey
Violet
Black

Ethanol

Pink
Orange
Yellow
Grey
Violet
Black
Isobutano
l
Pink
Orange
Yellow
Grey

Rf Value
Trial 1

Trial 2

Trial 3

Average

Rf
Value=1.0
0

Rf
Value=1.0
0

Rf
Value=
1.00

Rf Value=1.00

0.91
0.82
0.71
0.64
0.58
0.47

0.94
0.77
0.74
0.68
0.84
0.58

0.93
0.88
0.84
0.79
0.77
0.60

Observati
on
Aasasd

0.96666
0.82333
0.75333
0.70333
0.73
0.55

Rf
Value=1.0
0

Rf
Value=1.0
0

Rf
Rf Value=1.00
Value=1.
00

0.83
0.75
0.68
0.65
0.60
0.40

0.84
0.74
0.70
0.65
0.58
0.45

0.93
0.87
0.83
0.76
0.65
0.52

Rf value=
1.00.

Rf value=
1.00

Rf
Rf Value=1.00
Value=1.
00
Uncertain

Uncertain

Uncertain

0.8666667
0.7866667
0.7366667
0.67
0.61
0.4566667
The
pigments
did not
separate
and all of
the solute
went up

Violet
Black
Amyl
Alcohol
Pink
Orange
Yellow
Grey
Violet
Black
2 Butanol
Pink
Orange
Yellow
Grey
Violet
Black

with the
solvent.
Rf value=
1.00.

Rf value=
1.00

Rf
value=
1.00

Rf value=
1.00

Uncertain

Uncertain

Uncertain

Rf value=
1.00.

Rf Value=
1.00

Rf value=
1.00

Uncertain

Uncertain

Uncertain

The
pigments
did not
separate
and all of
the solute
went up
with the
solvent.
The
pigments
did not
separate
all of the
solute
went up
with the
solvent.

Data Interpretation:
The Chromatography Experiment that we did was pretty successful. Above is the data
presentation. There are some things that we can note from this data. One of them is that not all
alcohol can dissolve the ink. Amyl, Isobutanol and 2-Butanol do not have the ability to dissolve
the alcohols, where Methanol and Ethanol can. Another observation is that the order of which the
color dissolve is always the same for Methanol and also Ethanol. Pink, Orange, Yellow, Grey,
Violet, Black is the order in which the color comes out in.
Validity of Hypothesis:
Our hypothesis was correct, but also wrong. It is correct because Methanol is the alcohol that
dissolves the ink fastest, and also gives the more reasonable results for the chromatography. But
we are also wrong because we thought the Amyl, Isobutanol and 2-Butanol would also dissolve
the colors in the ink, when in reality, they didnt.
Validity of Method:
I think that the method that we use was really precise, but not entirely correct. We didnt really
have time to do our method because of how long it takes. Not only do that, our method not show
which alcohol dissolves ink fastest in the result. It shows during the experiment, which means
that we need to see it with our own eyes and couldnt rely on the results alone.

Improvements:
I think that we will need to use a different method. Instead of waiting for the alcohol to reach a
certain height, we could just give a time range and wait to see which water goes furthest. Not
only this way would save time, it would also tell which alcohol dissolve ink fastest in the results
shown. We need to learn from our 3rd trial. Our 3rd trial was not done correctly, and that is why
the results for the 3rd trial is rather different than trial 1 and 2. In trial 3, it took us longer to let go
of the paper, which makes the alcohol possible to affect the ink more.