Title: carrier gas
Long Title: IUPAC Gold Book - carrier gas
DOI: 10.1351/goldbook.C00863
Status: current

Definition
A gas introduced in order to transport a sample for analytical purposes. In gas chromatography it is the gas which is passed continuously through the column and whose passage promotes the elution of the components of the sample. The carrier gas together with the portions of the sample present in this phase constitutes the mobile phase.

Related Terms
- carrier: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/C00859
- chromatography: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/C01075
- elution: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/E02042
- mobile phase: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/M03952

Sources
- Orange Book, 2nd ed., p. 97 (https://media.iupac.org/publications/analytical_compendium/)
- PAC, 1990, 62, 2167. 'Glossary of atmospheric chemistry terms (Recommendations 1990)' on page 2178 (https://doi.org/10.1351/pac199062112167)

Other Outputs
- html: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/C00863/html
- json: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/C00863/json
- xml: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/C00863/xml

Citation: Citation: 'carrier gas' in IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 5th ed. International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry; 2025. Online version 5.0.0, 2025. 10.1351/goldbook.C00863
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Disclaimer: The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) is continuously reviewing and, where needed, updating terms in the Compendium of Chemical Terminology (the IUPAC Gold Book). Users of these terms are encouraged to include the version of a term with its use and to check regularly for updates to term definitions that you are using.
Accessed: 2026-08-09T21:24:58+00:00