RP12-TLC

• Equipment: Plate with silica gel, pencil, gloves, capillary tube, beaker, UV lamp or ninhydrin, ruler.
• Set up: Wearing gloves to prevent contamination, mark a line a couple centimetres from the bottom of the plate in pencil. Use a capillary tube to add small amounts of each solution onto the line, evenly spaced, and mark which is which.
• Method: Place the plate into the solvent, ensuring the solvent doesn't cover the line with the solutions. Leave until the solvent has travelled all the way up the plate, and mark where it gets to. Let dry then either use a UV light or spray with ninhydrin to be able to see the spots.
• Analysis: Using a ruler, measure how far the solvent got up the page, and how far each solution got up the page. Then calculate the rf value.