Common mobile phases used include any miscible combination of water with various organic solvents (the most common are acetonitrile and methanol). Some HPLC techniques use water-free mobile phases (see normal-phase chromatography below). The aqueous component of the mobile phase may contain acids (such as formic, phosphoric or trifluoroacetic acid) or salts to assist in the separation of the sample components. The composition of the mobile phase may be kept constant ("isocratic elution mode") or varied ("gradient elution mode") during the chromatographic analysis. Isocratic elution is typically effective in the separation of sample components that are very different in their affinity for the stationary phase. In gradient elution the composition of the mobile phase is varied typically from low to high eluting strength. The eluting strength of the mobile phase is reflected by analyte retention times with high eluting strength producing fast elution (=short retention times). A typical gradient profile in reversed phase chromatography might start at 5% acetonitrile (in water or aqueous buffer) and progress linearly to 95% acetonitrile over 5–25 minutes. Periods of constant mobile phase composition may be part of any gradient profile. For example, the mobile phase composition may be kept constant at 5% acetonitrile for 1–3 min, followed by a linear change up to 95% acetonitrile.