Elution

/ɪˈluːʃən/ noun

Definition

The process or result of extracting or washing out a substance from material using a solvent in chemistry.

Etymology

From Latin 'elutio,' the noun form of 'eluere' meaning 'a washing out.' This technical term became standardized in chemistry to describe the fundamental separation process.

Kelly Says

Elution sounds complex, but it's just supervised washing—when you rinse pasta, you're basically eluting starch into the water, though scientists do it with precision and specific solvents to separate molecules.

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