Science Study & Research Project Investigation Matrix

Curated Fair Archetypes

Curiosity Vector

Resource & Budget Ceiling

Solvent Migration Run Time 20 min

Liquid Chromatography Plate & Retention Front (Rf)

Capillary migration of spinach leaf pigments along stationary cellulose phase

Solvent Front: 80 mm

Testable Scientific Hypothesis:

Differential capillary adsorption and partition coefficients between mobile alcohol-water solvent and stationary cellulose fibers will resolve spinach pigment extracts into distinct chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, xanthophyll, and carotene bands with measurable retention factors (Rf).

Experimental Protocol Brief & Calibration Data

1. Controlled Variable Framework

Variable Class	Parameter	Target Calibration
Independent	Mobile phase solvent runtime	20 min
Dependent	Pigment migration distance / Rf	4 distinct pigment bands
Controlled	Paper medium, chamber vapor saturation	Whatman No. 1, airtight seal

2. Low-Cost Bill of Materials (BOM)

Whatman No. 1 or coffee filter paper strips
Solvent chamber (mason jar + lid)
Solvent mobile phase (isopropanol + water / acetone mix)
Plant leaf extract (spinach/chlorophyll) or food dyes
Capillary micro-pipette / toothpick applicator
Ruler for retention factor (Rf) calculation

3. Empirical Measurement Schema

Band Identity	Distance (mm)	Retention Factor ($R_f$)

Quora Advisor Precedent Context:

Reflecting John Anderson's 1969 fair archetype: combining foundational scientific principles with live laboratory bench data to show measurable physical separation without requiring expensive institutional spectrophotometers.