Quantitative Analysis
Chromatography
There are two forms of chromatography that can tell us “how much”, as well as “what”, is in a complex mixture. They are gas-liquid chromatography (GLC) and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC).
Both methods have much higher separating power than paper or thin layer chromatography (they’re the two methods you’ve probably come across before). They also detect smaller quantities of compounds.
Mummified pets
Britain is a pet-loving nation. But when our pets die we don’t hold funerals like we would for a member of the family. We might dig a hole for the dog, or flush the fish down the toilet, but rarely do we take the cat to the crematorium.
On the other hand, according to new research, Ancient Egyptians mummified their animals in the same way they mummified dead people.
Scientists in Bristol used gas chromatography to analyse the mummified remains of a cat, two hawks and an ibis bird. They revealed that the chemical composition of the substances used was just as complicated as the ones used to mummify the families.
Ancient chocoholics
Millions of Britons admit to being chocoholics. There are times when all you want is a nice slab of milk chocolate.
Now scientists have discovered that our love affair with chocolate dates back to 600 BC. In other words, they were munching chocs some two-and-half thousand years ago!
The scientists, from Hershey Foods in Pennsylvania, used high-performance liquid chromatography to analyse ancient pots. They discovered tiny 0.5 gram residues of cocoa (the ingredient used to make chocolate) in three of the jugs.