GC021 Plate number and Peak Width
A broadening of peaks with retention time is a natural phenomenon of the chromatographic process. Due to this fact, the most common measure of efficiency is the plate number, N, defined as:
N = (tR/S)^2
= 16(tR/Wb)^2 = 5.54(tR/W_(1/2))^2
Where W_(1/2)
is the width of the peak measured at half its height
N is
unitless. A high value of N indicates an efficient column, a very desirable quality.
If the chromatogram has several peaks, the value of N for each compound will vary.
However, it is common practice to assign a value to a column, based only on one
measurement.
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