Answer to Question #177915 in Organic Chemistry for Snow Riego

Question

What does Rf value mean in chromatography? Give its formula.

Answer 1

The Rf value is defined as the ratio of the distance moved by the solute (i.e. the dye or pigment under test) and the distance moved by the the solvent (known as the Solvent front) along the paper, where both distances are measured from the common Origin.

$Rf=\frac {Distance travelled by the Compound} {Distance travelled by the Solvent Front}$