Simple Description

A technique used to separate mixtures of compounds

Further Detail

Gas chromatography separates mixtures of compounds by passing the mixture through a long glass tube packed with an unreactive stationary phase, this is called a column. The mixture is heated to form a gas and passed through the tube with an unreactive gas usually nitrogen. As the mixture travels through the tube, some of the mixture will travel faster and some of the mixture will travel more slowly so by the time it reaches the end of the tube the different substances in the mixture have been separated. The different substances can be identified by passing them through a mass spectrometer.

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