ABSTRACT
Chromatography is a technique in which the components of a mixture are separated depending on the rates at which they are carried through a stationary phase by a mobile phase, which can be a liquid or a gas. It therefore follows from this definition that same components will travel at the same rate under the same experimental conditions. Thus, by comparing the chromatogram of an unknown sample with that of known samples, chromatography can be used to identify and determine the components of mixtures. But perhaps it is in the separation and subsequent purification of substances that chromatography has found widespread use. In fact, it has been argued that no other separation method is as powerful and as generally applicable as is chromatography.
