Atlc plate was run in 1: 1 ethyl acetate and hexane, but when developed the plate only showed baseline spots. what change could be made to get the spot(s) to move further up the plate?

-spot a new plate and run again in the same solvent system
-spot a new plate and run in neat hexane
-spot a new plate and run in 1: 2 ethyl acetate/hexane
-spot a new plate and run in 2: 1 ethyl acetate/hexane

Usea 2:1 ethyl acetate / hexane

Explanation:

TLC is based on the difference of affinity of the compounds you want to separate especially differences in polarity therefore, the more polar eluent (solvent - carrier) you use the more the spots (compounds) move upwards since the interaction between the eluent and the analyte is higher and then they will be forced to move more, even non polar molecules. Eluotropic series is series of solvents with increasing in polarity. If the strength of your current eluent is not enough to move the spots more (they stay at the baseline) you should increase the polarity of your eluent which means increase the proportion of the more polar solvent, in this case Ethyl Acetate.

I include an eluotropic series if you need more variety of solvents.

the correct answer to this question is 2