M's Vs Skittles Lab Report

In our experiment, we are trying to identify the types of dyes used in M&M’s versus skittles using chromatography.
Chromatography is a group of techniques used to separate the various components in a complex mixture or solution. Chromatography was invented by a Russian botanist named Mikhail Tsvet. He used column chromatography to study plant pigments, but it became clearer that this technique can be used to separate many complex homogeneous mixtures. In every chromatography structure there is basically a mobile phase and a stationary phase. A mobile phase is a fluid the solution is dissolved in and a stationary phase is the material the fluid moves through. The mobile phase can also be called the solvent. The two main types of chromatography

Forrest Mars invented M&M’s and first introduced M&M’s commercially in 1941. During the Spanish Civil War, Forrest Mars got the idea of M&M’s by watching soldiers eat chocolate pellets with a hard shell. The outer candy shells of M&M’s are only made from sugar and corn syrup, cornstarch and carries the letter M. The delicious centers of M&M’s are made from a mixture of chocolate liquor, whole milk, cocoa butter, and sugar. Lastly, food coloring is listed as blue 1 lake, yellow 6, red 40, yellow 5, blue 1, red 40 lake, blue lake, yellow 6 lake, and blue 2. Dyes are manufactured powder and lakes are dyes combined with

The dependent variables in our experiment are the colors of the candies and the solvent that’s being used. In our experiment, we should be able to find out that the candy coating is actually a mixture of several pigments. Some pigments are more easily dissolved in the water and are pulled farther up the paper with the water. Certain pigments are more attracted to the paper so they will move slower up the paper. In other experiments done in the past the conclusion was only two M&M candies had two dyes involved in the candy coating. In another experiment using M&Ms and Smarties, the dyes were completely different because M&M’s dye was artificial while Smarties’s dye was natural. Lastly, the only colors results showed that had more than one dye in it was green and