I. Paper Chromatography of Leaf Pigments

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II. Chromatography is the process that separates the components of a mixture. Pigments are the color of the substances that light reflects. Plants absorb every color of the rainbow except green; it gets reflected. Chlorophyll is what absorbs and reflects colors. It is very important because without it, the plant would not be able to go through photosynthesis, which means they can’t produce energy. In the winter, trees lose their leaves to save energy because there’s less sunlight. The leaves change color because the chlorophyll starts to break down, revealing the other pigments, and then eventually fall off. Hypothesis: the colors will separate into yellow and green. III. Materials: isopropyl alcohol, green leaf, coffee filter, coin, beaker, ruler, scissors, pencil, tape, colored pencils or crayons. Procedure -Obtain a strip of chromatography or cut 2 ½ cm strips from a coffee filter. -Use a ruler to measure and draw a light pencil line 2 cm above the bottom of the paper strip -Wrap a leaf around a coin with the waxy side of the leaf facing outward. Now rub the leaf along the light pencil line on the paper strip until it makes a dark green line. Do not rub the leaf above or below the line. Rub the leaf on the line only -Tape the top of the paper strip to a pencil so that the end of the strip with the dark green line hangs down. The pencil should be able to sit across the top of the beaker with the bottom of the paper strip just touching the bottom of the beaker. Cut off any excess paper from the top of the strip if it is too long. Do not cut the bottom of the strip with the green line. -Remove the pencil/paper strip from the beaker for now -Carefully add isopropyl alcohol to the beaker until it reaches the paper strip extending into the beaker until it reaches a depth of 1 cm in the beaker -Lay the pencil across the top of the beaker with the paper strip

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