Cromatografia

OBJECTIVE: To see the different layers of a mixture of spinach

MATERIAL:

• Filter paper
• Spinachs
• Petri dish
• Ethanol  
• A mortar
• Calcium carbonate
• A spatula

PROCEDURE:

1. First of all we have to wash the spinach to clean it and then we dry it with a paper.
2. Then we have to put the washed spinach in the mortar and grind it until we get a green liquid.    
3. Then we have to add 50mL of ethanol and a very little bit of calcium carbonate with the spatula.
4. We romove it and then we have to filter the mixture with a filter paper.        
5. Put a part of the mixture in the petri dish and put the paper, that we have folded in a half.
6. We have to wait until we can observe the different pigments.

RESULTS:

In our cromatography we could saw  the following pigments:

• The orange or red pigment is the beta carotene
• The dark green is the alfa chlorophyll 
• The light green is the beta chlorohyll
• The yellow pigment is the xanthophylls  

QUESTIONS:

1. Why do we add calcium carbonate? Because thanks to add calcium carbonate we don't degrade the pigments.
2.  Which is the colous of every pigment? Is in the results.
3. For what purpose it does have different colour pigments? To know the solubility of different pigments.
4. Why do they separate in the paper?