Mobile Phase
The fluid that carries the sample through the stationary phase during chromatography.
Unit
mL/min
In depth
Also called the eluent or carrier, the mobile phase competes with the stationary phase for the analytes, so changing its composition changes the separation. Gradient elution steadily alters that composition to separate compounds of widely different retention in one run.
Examples in the real world
Helium carrier gas in GC; a water and acetonitrile gradient in HPLC.