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0 of 4 missions completed. Current mission: Paper Chromatography. Separate ink pigments by polarity.

Chromatography Lab

Chromatography Simulator – TLC & Column Separation Online

Chromatography separates mixtures by exploiting differences in how strongly components interact with a stationary phase versus a mobile phase. This simulation walks you through paper, TLC, and column chromatography, letting you choose analytes and solvents and observe differential migration. Rf values and polarity matching are the central analytical skills developed.

What you can do in this simulation

  • Run paper or TLC separations with selectable analyte mixtures and solvent polarities
  • Measure Rf values for each component and relate them to polarity and stationary-phase interaction
  • Design a column chromatography separation by choosing packing material and eluent gradient
  • Observe how changing solvent polarity alters separation resolution between components
  • Identify unknown mixture components by matching Rf values to reference standards

Concepts covered

stationary phase · mobile phase · Rf value · polarity · thin-layer chromatography · column chromatography

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