A mixture is added to the base line (1) shown as purple spots. The TLC plate is placed in a solvent tank and the solvent moves up the plate. A lid ensures that the atmosphere in the tank is saturated with solvent. As the solvent moves up the plate the purple mixture separates into a fast moving red spot and a slower moving blue spot. The R<sub>f</sub> of each spot is worked out by measuring the distance the spot moved relative to the distance the solvent moved i.e. for the red spot the R<sub>f</sub>  is = (1 to 3 / 1 to 4) and for the blue spot the R<sub>f</sub>  is = (1 to 2 / 1 to 4). The R<sub>f</sub>  of the red spot is larger, meaning that it has moved further along the plate (in that solvent) than has the blue spot. In this case it can be seen that the purple spot can be separated easily into 2 spots using the light blue solvent.
<ul><li><a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tlc_sequence.png" title="File:Tlc sequence.png">Tlc_sequence.png</a>: Quantockgoblin</li>
<li>derivative work: <a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=User:Shakiestone&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1" class="new" title="User:Shakiestone (page does not exist)">Shakiestone</a> (<a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Shakiestone" title="User talk:Shakiestone"><span class="signature-talk">talk</span></a>)</li></ul>
2012-01-31 12:02
This file was derived from: <a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tlc_sequence.png" title="File:Tlc sequence.png">Tlc sequence.png</a>: <a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tlc_sequence.png" class="image"><img alt="Tlc sequence.png" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/47/Tlc_sequence.png/50px-Tlc_sequence.png" decoding="async" width="50" height="7" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/47/Tlc_sequence.png/75px-Tlc_sequence.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/47/Tlc_sequence.png/100px-Tlc_sequence.png 2x" data-file-width="933" data-file-height="128"></a><br>