Question

What does the retention factor, k’, describe?

(a) The velocity from the stationary phase

(b) The velocity of the mobile phase

(c) The distribution of an analyte between the stationary and the mobile phase

(d) The migration rate of an analyte through a column

I had been asked this question during an interview.

This question is from Chromatography in division Unit Operations of Bioprocess Engineering

Answer 1

Correct answer is (d) The migration rate of an analyte through a column

Best explanation: k’ (Capacity factor) in the chromatography is to provide a calculation or formula which defines how much interaction the solute has with the stationary phase material. And it is based on the formula given below:

Where, T (R) = Retention time of the peak in minutes

T (0) = Retention time of an unretained peak

k’ value should be >1.