Retention factor (Rƒ) is the distance travelled by the sample or analyte divided by distance travelled by the solvent front in chromatography, so it is ratio of the distance travelled by the substance to the distance travelled by the solvent. During thin layer chromatography, less polar compound moves higher up the plate, resulting in a higher Rf value. The more polar compound has a stronger interaction with the silica and has higher capablity to dispel the mobile phase from the binding places. So, if the Rf of these substances are same, they have traveled same distance, so they are chemically identical i.e. either polar or nonpolar depending on where the spots appeared in your result. So if the spots appeared higher up the plate, these substances are polar and so on. I hope that helps! Solution Retention factor (Rƒ) is the distance travelled by the sample or analyte divided by distance travelled by the solvent front in chromatography, so it is ratio of the distance travelled by the substance to the distance travelled by the solvent. During thin layer chromatography, less polar compound moves higher up the plate, resulting in a higher Rf value. The more polar compound has a stronger interaction with the silica and has higher capablity to dispel the mobile phase from the binding places. So, if the Rf of these substances are same, they have traveled same distance, so they are chemically identical i.e. either polar or nonpolar depending on where the spots appeared in your result. So if the spots appeared higher up the plate, these substances are polar and so on. I hope that helps!.