I'm a bit confused on how chromatography works. Here's what I 'think' happens.
You have a tube (ion-exchange) with a resin in it. You put a solution in the tube (ie. cation exchange column). The positive ions adsorb to the resin taking the place of the H+ ions in the resin, and the H+ ions are eluted (come out of the column). The ratio of the eluted H+ and the positive ions adsorbed to the resin is 1:1.
That's what I think happens, but then I get confused. If you're separating ions, ie. a K+, then if the H+ ions come out of the column how are you separating the K+ ion? Meaning, how do you test the solution that comes from the column to have a separated K+ ion?
Also, does this mean that there is a relative affinity for the K+ (I'm just using this ion to make explanation simpler) to the resin? I read relative affinity as 'relative attraction'. Because the K+ adsorbs to the resin there is an attraction, thus a relative affinity?
I'm not getting the theory entirely so I'm a bit lost. Thanks for any help you can give.