Thin layer chromatography

Okay kiddo, have you ever seen paints of different colors mixed together? If we want to know what colors are in the mixture, we can use a special paper called thin layer chromatography.

Here's how it works: we put a dot of the mixture on the paper and then put the paper in water. The water moves up the paper like a slow-moving river, and as it moves, it separates the different colors in the mixture into different layers.

Each color moves at a different speed, so they end up in different places on the paper. We can then compare the colors on the paper to known colors to figure out what colors are in the mixture.

Thin layer chromatography is a really helpful tool in science for separating out different chemicals in mixtures like ink or medicine. It helps us to understand what's in the things we use every day!