In: Chemistry
Of the following, which would be the best method to analyze a
mixture of proteins with an average moecular weight of 15, 000
grams per mole?
UV-visible spectroscopy
gas chromatography
high performance liquid chromatography
potentiometry with ion-selective electrodes
gravimetry
It is very unclear as to what is meant by 'analysing' the mixture of proteins, However I will assume that you mean identifying different components of the mixture.
UV Spectroscopy is a Qualitative process. It is based on the phenomenon of absorption and usually is required to find out intrinsic properties of the solution, like the concentration of the solute, molecular mass of THAT solute, etc.
Gravimetry is not the best bet as in this case the output might contain proteins with very close molecular weights. This will lead to higher chances of errors in the analysis.
potentiometry with ion-selective electrodes will let you know the concentrations of the proteins, but will not really help you in identifying what are the constituents in a very precise manner.
The best option then is to perform Chromatography. But note that both Gas Chromatography and HPLC are attractive options. What we need to do is find out which one is the best for us. HPLC is the safest choice because a mixture of proteins dont usually give accurate results while using Gas Chromatography, there is always a realistic chance of producing an error due to the decomposition of a certain protein vapor into smaller components and thus leading to an incorrect analyses.
HPLC will be the best choice as it lets the proteins be in the solution, and can accurately separate them into their constituents.
I hope this has helped. In case the answer is unclear, please do let me know in the comments, I will be more than glad to help you out.