AP BIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -The colour molecules in the ink are dissolved and wicked up the strip with the water by capillary action. The more soluble a molecule is in water, the farther it will be carried by the water, higher up the paper.

Detailed explanation-2: -As the water travels up the paper, it carries the pigments along with it. Different-colored pigments are carried along at different rates; some travel farther and faster than others. How fast each pigment travels depends on the size of the pigment molecule and on how strongly the pigment is attracted to the paper.

Detailed explanation-3: -What’s happening in there? The reason why the colors separate has to do with the chemicals that make up the color, the water, and the paper. The chemicals that make up the color are called pigments. Some pigments attach to water better than others so they move further through the paper before sticking.

Detailed explanation-4: -To perform ink chromatography, you put a small dot of ink to be separated at one end of a strip of filter paper. This end of the paper strip is placed in a solvent. The solvent moves up the paper strip and, as it travels upward, it dissolves the mixture of chemicals and pulls them up the paper.

Detailed explanation-5: -When the water passes through the black ink it takes the pigment colors with it. Some pigments dissolve in water easier and are pulled with the water farther up the paper. This is called chromatography-separating the parts of a mixture so that you can see them one at a time.