Question

Why are different spots formed on paper during separation of dyes from ink?
(a) Insolubility of different components
(b) Equal solubility of different components
(c) Unequal solubility of different components
(d) Both a and b

Answer 1

Hint: Ink is a mixture of different dyes and we use chromatography to separate out these colors. Chromatography is a process used to separate mixtures into its individual components.

Complete answer:
So, in order to separate the different dyes from the ink, we use paper chromatography. In chromatography there are two phases. One is the mobile phase and the other one is the stationary phase. In mobile phase or the eluent which can be a gas or liquid is forced through the stationary phase which can be a solid or semi-solid. In a paper chromatography of ink, the components are moved along the filter paper at different rates such that they spread out and separated at from each other. We know that the different components have diff solubility, the mobile phase takes the advantage of this to separate them as different components. Thus, this forms spots on the paper. We can use this spot to identify substances by comparing them with known substances.
Hence, we can conclude that the spot on the paper formed during the separation of dyes from ink is due to its different solubility of different components present in it.

Hence, option (c) is correct.

Note: There are different types of chromatography depending upon its uses. Some of them are absorption chromatography, thin layer chromatography, column chromatography and partition chromatography. Also, chromatography is mainly used in industrial processes to purify materials. It is the physical process of separating or analyzing complex mixtures.