What is Retention Time in Chromatography?

Definition of Retention Time in Chromatography:

Retention time in chromatography is the time taken by a substance to pass through the chromatographic system from injection to detection. It is a time-based parameter used to describe when a specific component appears during a chromatographic run. In chromatography, retention time is treated as a characteristic value for a substance under a given set of conditions. Retention time represents the temporal position of a substance within the chromatogram rather than its quantity or concentration. The term retention time refers only to this measured time interval and does not include factors affecting it, calculation procedures, or result interpretation.