Kool-Aid Chromatography Lab Report

When the actual FD&C dyes in the green Kool-Aid were revealed, it was discovered that the initial assumption that Yellow 5 and Blue 1 are in the Kool-Aid was correct. However, solely based upon the Rf values, the dyes in the green Kool-Aid are Red 40 and Yellow 6 as those are closet Rf value to the numeric data collected and calculated from the Kool-Aid chromatogram. However, the chromatography paper in both trials display that the dyes in Kool-Aid are a form of yellow and a form of blue because one color band was of a blue tint and the other, a yellow tint. Therefore, based on this qualitative data, the dyes in the green Kool-Aid are Blue 1, which has a an Rf of 0.84, and Yellow 6, which has an Rf value of 0.48. This assumption was made because Yellow 6 has the closest yellow Rf value to the yellow band
However, this analysis is wrong as well, even with acknowledging and analyzing the qualitative data and ignoring high margin of error. The Kool-Aid chromatograms display precision by its trials; trial one and two yield similar results. However, the actual results have no accuracy.
A procedural error that may have played a role in the large margin of error is the use of phrase “over and over” in order to entail the amount of times required to tap the toothpick on the designated spot on the origin line. If the sample spot is not as concentrated as it should be, one can run the risk of being unable to see color bands that designate how far a single component of the mixture traveled. On the other hand, if the sample spot is too concentrated, the substance could travel up the chromatography paper in a elogated stripe rather than a single band (Libretexts). In other words, the mobile phase cannot move the heavily concentrated sample and only moves as much as it can handle. Therefore, a heavily concentrated sample is susceptible to leaving large trials of FD&C dye left behind (Libretexts). This