Radial Chromatography -

Today we studied something quite new to me called Radial Chromatography.

Chromatography comes from the Greek word chroma meaning "color" and graphia meaning "writing". Chromatography is a fun way to explore color.

We also discovered that scientists can use this experiment to determine if a document is forged or not by testing the ink. They were able to dispute the authenticity of Hitlers Diary by performing this test.

Chromatography is one method chemists use to separate mixtures. When the mixture is separated, the chemist can tell how many things are in the mixture. Often a mixture contains two or more materials that each have their own color. These colors can be hidden when the mixture is formed.

In our experiment we used a technique called Radial Chromatography to study the colors found in magic markers. When we were done, we were able to answer two questions about each marker:

1. Is the dye in the marker a pure color or a mixture of two or more colors?

2. If the dye is a mixture, what colors were used to make it?

Here are our supplies:
Brennan seemed to enjoy this a lot.
This is the result with a sharpie:
This is the result with a vis a vis:
I will try to get the video upload tomorrow.


I hope you had a Gorgeous Green Day!
Kathleen