Smarties Chromatography - Research Paper Example

The sample candies will be taken from a regular pack of Smarties. The product information detailing the ingredients of the candy will be utilized to reference what chemicals have been used for each of the colors selected. The experiment is expected to be able to breakdown the color composition of the color of Smarties that have been selected. It can be reasonably predicted that specific colors have a determined combination of pigments and would likely vary directly to the degree of similarity between the colors ("Chromatography: Introduction Theory", 2007).

At the same time, it can be expected that the chemicals or substances used for each color will vary in a parallel manner. The experiment results are also expected not to follow faithfully color combination schemes since chemical reactions must also be considered ("Chromatography", 2006). Also, the researchers can expect that some of the color additives are not just to affect the colors for the candies but may also serve to enhance or to stabilize the color. Chromatography is actually a broad term that refers to several laboratory techniques that can be used for the separation of mixtures.

The basic principle in any chromatographic experiment involves the processing of a mixture through a stationary phase that separates the mixture to be analyzed or studied to identify it from the other molecules in mixture ("Chromatography: Introduction Theory", 2007). This has the effect of isolating individual molecules in the mixture that can be seen as a band in the separating medium. Chromatography in laboratory settings entails the use of sophisticated equipment and the materials used like chromatographic paper is quiet expensive.

However, chromatographic experiments can be done using ordinary materials that can be found in one's kitchen as long as the basic principles are maintained as described in the preceding paragraph. Variable to Consider In order to maintain the integrity of the experiment, it is important to maintain uniformity of the solution to dissolve and extract the pigmentation form the candies, the number of candies to be used in each extraction, the saline solution to be used for the separation of the samples, the integrity of the sampling and the ambient condition for each sampling.

In the course of the experiment, the research is expected to have difficulty in limiting the sugar content of the samples during color extraction. There may be also difficulty in being able to have equal numbered sample colors from each pack of Smarties since they are packed indiscriminately. There should also be some expected difficulty in developing pigment or color samples that are of equal concentration since density of color coatings may vary during the production of the candies. In the observance of the color spectrum that will become evident, the research is limited into observing what colors will compose each candy.

The observations will not consider the intensity of the colors or the amount of time they develop on the medium to be used. The observations will focus on quantifying the colors or pigments used from each extracted sample rather than qualifying any of the observationsPreliminary Work As part of the preliminary investigation for