Introduction
Today, we will be investigating methods for separating mixtures. The purpose of this investigation is to challenge you to separate the materials using their properties. After physically separating a mixture, we will use paper chromatography and column chromatography to separate food dyes from solution. We also challenge you to explore this chemistry problem as a scientist would. What does this mean?
Scientific exploration is different than just playing around because it asks you to think about HOW you investigate. This means you need to do your investigation by observing what happens when you change a variable you have carefully chosen. This helps you to understand WHY something happens. Scientific exploration also means that you record WHAT you see or measure and that you record WHY you think it happens. The Young Scientist Journal that you are holding will help to guide your investigation and give you a place to record your observations, measurements and conclusions.