Gel filtration chromatography

So, imagine you have a big jar of different colored balls all mixed together. Some are big, some are medium, and some are small. You want to separate them so that you have all the big ones together, all the medium ones together, and all the small ones together.

Well, that's kind of what gel filtration chromatography does with molecules instead of balls! Scientists take a mixture of different molecules and put them onto a column filled with tiny beads (sort of like sand). These beads have little spaces between them, and different sized molecules can get stuck in those spaces depending on how big or small they are.

Basically, the smaller molecules will take longer to pass through the column because they get trapped easily in the small spaces, while the larger molecules will flow through the column more quickly because they can't fit into those small spaces. So by the end of the column, the molecules have been separated into different groups based on their sizes!

Scientists can then collect each group separately, and study them to learn more about their different properties and uses. But for now, all you need to know is that gel filtration chromatography helps scientists separate lots of different molecules based on how big or small they are!