A laboratory technique used to separate mixtures into their individual components based on how differently each component moves through a stationary material. Different substances travel at different rates, allowing for separation and identification.
From Greek 'chroma' (color) and 'graphos' (writing), literally meaning 'color writing,' coined by Russian botanist Mikhail Tsvet in 1906. He named it after observing colored bands of plant pigments separating on paper.
Chromatography is like a molecular obstacle course where different substances run at different speeds! It can separate something as complex as ink into its individual color components or detect trace amounts of drugs in blood samples.
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