How many spots would you expect from a mixture of substances in paper chromatography?

In paper chromatography, a mixture of substances is applied to a stationary phase, typically a piece of chromatography paper, and is then separated by a mobile phase, usually a solvent. The separation occurs because different substances in the mixture will interact differently with the stationary phase and the mobile phase, causing them to travel varying distances up the paper.

When analyzing a mixture of substances, it is expected that each distinct component will show up as a separate spot on the chromatography paper. If the mixture contains multiple substances, each of those substances will typically migrate at different rates, depending on their respective affinities for the stationary and mobile phases. Therefore, in the case of a mixture, one can anticipate two or more spots on the chromatogram, which correspond to the different substances present in the mixture. This illustrates the effectiveness of chromatography in separating complex mixtures into their individual components for analysis.