Gas chromatography differs from other kinds of chromatography in the mobile phase is a gas and the elements are split as vapours. It is thus utilised to separate and detect small molecular weight compounds from the gas phase. The sample is either a gas or a liquid that is vaporized at the injection port. The mobile phase for gas chromatography is a carrier gas, typically helium due to its low molecular weight and being chemically inert. The pressure is applied and the mobile phase moves the analyte through the pillar. The separation is accomplished with a column coated with a stationary phase. The balance for gas chromatography is Partitioning, and the parts of the sample will partition i.e., distribute between the two stages: the stationary phase and the mobile phase.

Compounds with a gas chromatography affinity for the Stationary phase spend more time at the column and therefore elute later and have a more retention time Rt than samples which have a greater affinity for the mobile stage. Affinity for the stationary phase is driven largely by intermolecular interactions and the polarity of the stationary phase can be selected to optimize interactions and therefore the separation. Ideal peaks are Gaussian distributions and Symmetrical, due to the arbitrary nature of the analyte interactions with the column. The separation is hence accomplished by partitioning the sample between the gas and a thin coating of a non-volatile liquid stored on a solid support. A sample comprising the solutes is injected into a heated block in which it is instantly vaporized and swept as a plug of vapor from the carrier gas flow into the column. The solutes are adsorbed from the stationary phase and then desorbed by a brand new carrier gas.

• The procedure is repeated in each plate as the sample is moved toward the socket.
• Each solute will travel in its own rate through the column.
• Their bands will separate into different zones based upon the partition coefficients, and ring spreading.
• The solutes are eluted one after another in the increasing order of the kid, and input into a sensor connected to the exit end of this column.
• Here they register a collection of signals caused by concentration changes and rates of elution on the recorder for a plot of time versus the composition of carrier gas flow.
• The appearance time, height, width, and Area of these peaks can be measured to yield qualitative data.