Fwd: Krampf Experiment, Chromatography
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If you have a child who likes to experiment, you should know about Robert Krampf's Experiments of the Week. Using household items, he gives you great weekly ideas to share with your child/ren. If you don't like *this* week's experiment, you can go peruse the archives.
-----Original Message-----
From: Experiment of the Week <rkrampf@...>
To: kbcdlovejo@...
Sent: Fri, 3 Oct 2008 2:20 am
Subject: Krampf Experiment, Chromatography
Robert Krampf's Experiment of the Week
Chromatography
To unsubscribe, follow the link at the bottom of this email. Otherwise, please add this e-mail address, Experiments@..., to your spam filter’s white list. If this message is in your spam folder and you want to keep it, please click your "Not Spam" button now.
****************************************
What's New at Krampf.com:
For Krampf.com members:
Chromatography video. Can you tell which pen was used to write a
letter? Of course you can!
http://krampf.com/members/experiment-videos/chromatography
************************************
Chromatography
Greetings from West Virginia. Nancy and I are having a marvelous time collecting fossils and videotapin
g in the quarries and coal mines around the state. In fact, this email is a bit late because we spent way too much time wandering in the old strip mines (and getting lost on old mining roads, even though we were using the GPS). Still, we found some marvelous fossils, saw some beautiful countryside, and enjoyed the first of the autumn leaves changing.
We also met up with Ray Garton (www.prehistoricplanet.com) and his wife. They took us to some of their favorite fossil sites, and in spite of some rainy weather, we had a great time and found wonderful specimens.
Great news! I finally have a list of all the videos, sorted by subject at http://krampf.com/members/current-videos-listed-subject. Now it will be easy to find all the videos that deal with chemistry, energy, life science, etc. This is the first step towards doing the same thing for each state's science standards, a goal that will take a lot of time, but I have had lots of requests from krampf.com members for this, so I am making the time to do it. Thanks Members!!!
This week’s experiment is also late because the first one that I tried did not work. I read about it, researched it, and tried it over and over and over. After two days, I set it aside for more research. Remember, just because you read about an experiment on the internet20does not mean that it really works the way they said it did. Instead, we are going to do an experiment this week with chromatography.
Chromatography is the science of separating chemicals, based on how much they stick to paper. We are going to use this interesting science to look at the differences in inks.
To try this, you will need:
- watercolor paper or similar absorbent paper
- several black ink pens from different manufacturers
- a cup
- isopropyl alcohol, commonly known as rubbing alcohol
- scissors
Cut several strips of the paper, about one inch wide and as long as the cup is deep. On the first strip, use one of the pens to make a black dot about half an inch from one end. That end will be the bottom. At the top of the strip, make a mark that will help you identify which pen made the mark. For example, one my my pens had a blue cap, so I put a “B” on that strip. Do the same thing, using a different pen on each strip.
Put about a quarter of an inch of isopropyl alcohol into the cup. Then place the strips into the cup, with the dot side down. Be sure that the dots
are above the level of the alcohol.
Then wait...and wait....and wait. All in all, you need to wait about 20 minutes. You should check on the strips every few minutes, and notice what is happening to the ink.
You should see the alcohol soaking into the paper and slowly rising up the strip. As it passes the ink, it should carry some of the ink with it, but instead of seeing black ink rise up the strip, you will probably see a mixture of several colors. Those colors will separate into bands, with one color at the top, and other colors beneath that. Why does that happen?
The pigments in the ink are supposed to stick to the paper, to keep the ink from rubbing off. Some of them stick better than others. As the alcohol moves across the ink, it carries some of the pigments along with it. Pigments which are very sticky will not move very far or very fast. In fact, if they are sticky enough, they may not move at all.
On the other hand, pigments that are less sticky move farther and faster. You wind up with a band of color (the least sticky) at the top, followed by the pigment that is a little stickier, and so on, until you get to the most sticky at the bottom.
Y
ou can try this in other ways too. Try this experiment with several pens, until you find two that are very different. Then make a dot with one pen, and then color the dot again with the other pen. You have mixed the pigments from the two, so now you will get bands for all the colors from both. The more inks you mix, the more complex your chromatography will be. You can also try it with other pigments, besides ink. You can even rub colorful fruits and vegetables on the paper to make the spots, and then use chromatography to see if their color is made up of more than one kind of pigment.
Have a wonder-filled week!
******************************************************
This weekly e-mail list is provided free of charge. You are welcome to print it in your newsletter, repost it on the Internet, etc., as long as you do not charge for access, and my name and website link (http://www.krampf.com) are included.
This newsletter is sent by permission only.
You are subscribed as ~~email~~
To unsubscribe, use the link below.
Copyright © 2008. Robert Krampf's Science Education
Remove me from the list
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
-----Original Message-----
From: Experiment of the Week <rkrampf@...>
To: kbcdlovejo@...
Sent: Fri, 3 Oct 2008 2:20 am
Subject: Krampf Experiment, Chromatography
Robert Krampf's Experiment of the Week
Chromatography
To unsubscribe, follow the link at the bottom of this email. Otherwise, please add this e-mail address, Experiments@..., to your spam filter’s white list. If this message is in your spam folder and you want to keep it, please click your "Not Spam" button now.
****************************************
What's New at Krampf.com:
For Krampf.com members:
Chromatography video. Can you tell which pen was used to write a
letter? Of course you can!
http://krampf.com/members/experiment-videos/chromatography
************************************
Chromatography
Greetings from West Virginia. Nancy and I are having a marvelous time collecting fossils and videotapin
g in the quarries and coal mines around the state. In fact, this email is a bit late because we spent way too much time wandering in the old strip mines (and getting lost on old mining roads, even though we were using the GPS). Still, we found some marvelous fossils, saw some beautiful countryside, and enjoyed the first of the autumn leaves changing.
We also met up with Ray Garton (www.prehistoricplanet.com) and his wife. They took us to some of their favorite fossil sites, and in spite of some rainy weather, we had a great time and found wonderful specimens.
Great news! I finally have a list of all the videos, sorted by subject at http://krampf.com/members/current-videos-listed-subject. Now it will be easy to find all the videos that deal with chemistry, energy, life science, etc. This is the first step towards doing the same thing for each state's science standards, a goal that will take a lot of time, but I have had lots of requests from krampf.com members for this, so I am making the time to do it. Thanks Members!!!
This week’s experiment is also late because the first one that I tried did not work. I read about it, researched it, and tried it over and over and over. After two days, I set it aside for more research. Remember, just because you read about an experiment on the internet20does not mean that it really works the way they said it did. Instead, we are going to do an experiment this week with chromatography.
Chromatography is the science of separating chemicals, based on how much they stick to paper. We are going to use this interesting science to look at the differences in inks.
To try this, you will need:
- watercolor paper or similar absorbent paper
- several black ink pens from different manufacturers
- a cup
- isopropyl alcohol, commonly known as rubbing alcohol
- scissors
Cut several strips of the paper, about one inch wide and as long as the cup is deep. On the first strip, use one of the pens to make a black dot about half an inch from one end. That end will be the bottom. At the top of the strip, make a mark that will help you identify which pen made the mark. For example, one my my pens had a blue cap, so I put a “B” on that strip. Do the same thing, using a different pen on each strip.
Put about a quarter of an inch of isopropyl alcohol into the cup. Then place the strips into the cup, with the dot side down. Be sure that the dots
are above the level of the alcohol.
Then wait...and wait....and wait. All in all, you need to wait about 20 minutes. You should check on the strips every few minutes, and notice what is happening to the ink.
You should see the alcohol soaking into the paper and slowly rising up the strip. As it passes the ink, it should carry some of the ink with it, but instead of seeing black ink rise up the strip, you will probably see a mixture of several colors. Those colors will separate into bands, with one color at the top, and other colors beneath that. Why does that happen?
The pigments in the ink are supposed to stick to the paper, to keep the ink from rubbing off. Some of them stick better than others. As the alcohol moves across the ink, it carries some of the pigments along with it. Pigments which are very sticky will not move very far or very fast. In fact, if they are sticky enough, they may not move at all.
On the other hand, pigments that are less sticky move farther and faster. You wind up with a band of color (the least sticky) at the top, followed by the pigment that is a little stickier, and so on, until you get to the most sticky at the bottom.
Y
ou can try this in other ways too. Try this experiment with several pens, until you find two that are very different. Then make a dot with one pen, and then color the dot again with the other pen. You have mixed the pigments from the two, so now you will get bands for all the colors from both. The more inks you mix, the more complex your chromatography will be. You can also try it with other pigments, besides ink. You can even rub colorful fruits and vegetables on the paper to make the spots, and then use chromatography to see if their color is made up of more than one kind of pigment.
Have a wonder-filled week!
******************************************************
This weekly e-mail list is provided free of charge. You are welcome to print it in your newsletter, repost it on the Internet, etc., as long as you do not charge for access, and my name and website link (http://www.krampf.com) are included.
This newsletter is sent by permission only.
You are subscribed as ~~email~~
To unsubscribe, use the link below.
Copyright © 2008. Robert Krampf's Science Education
Remove me from the list
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Pamela Sorooshian
On Oct 3, 2008, at 5:26 AM, kbcdlovejo@... wrote:
I read them and imagine doing them.
Then, once in a while, we'll suddenly have the materials for one of
his experiments just serendipitously in our hands and I'll entertain
and amaze someone by doing one of his fun demonstrations. Sort of like
parlor tricks - only most happen in the kitchen - so "kitchen tricks."
<g>
-pam
> f you have a child who likes to experiment, you should know aboutI read his experiments frequently. I don't "do them" with my kids, but
> Robert Krampf's Experiments of the Week. Using household items, he
> gives you great weekly ideas to share with your child/ren. If you
> don't like *this* week's experiment, you can go peruse the archives.
I read them and imagine doing them.
Then, once in a while, we'll suddenly have the materials for one of
his experiments just serendipitously in our hands and I'll entertain
and amaze someone by doing one of his fun demonstrations. Sort of like
parlor tricks - only most happen in the kitchen - so "kitchen tricks."
<g>
-pam