In really simple terms Chromatography is a method of separating a mixture of chemicals. M and Z were interested to see what colours were in the ink of different coloured pens. They drew dots of different coloured ink on blotting paper about an inch from the bottom of the paper.

Next, they placed the blotting paper in a jar with about a cm of water in. The paper soaked up the ink and the colours separated.

We initially tried this experiment with Sharpie’s (permanent markers), these inks didn’t separate easily so we tried regular felt tips and achieved better results.

The purple, brown and grey felt tips pens produced interesting results. Have a go and see what colours you see…

In this photograph, you can see the difference between using sharpies and using regular felt tip pens.

Thanks for reading. 🙂