centrifuge

(noun)

A device in which a mixture of denser and lighter materials (normally dispersed in a liquid) is separated by rotation around a central axis at high speed.

Related Terms

Examples of centrifuge in the following topics:

  • Plasma and Serum

    • It can separated by artificially spinning or centrifuging the blood at high rotations of 3000 rpm or higher .
    • The blood cells and platelets that make up about 45 percent of the blood are separated by centrifugal forces to the bottom of a specimen tube, leaving the plasma as the upper layer.
    • The liquid components of blood called plasma (yellow section) can be separated from the erythrocytes (red section) and platelets (white section) by using a centrifuging or spinning the blood.

  • The Coriolois Force

    • When Newton's laws are transformed to a uniformly rotating frame of reference, the Coriolis and centrifugal forces appear.
    • The Coriolis force is proportional to the rotation rate, and the centrifugal force is proportional to its square.
    • However, the observer (red dot) who is standing in the rotating/non-inertial frame of reference (lower part of the picture) sees the object as following a curved path due to the Coriolis and centrifugal forces present in this frame.

  • Transfusions of Whole Blood

    • Centrifuge quickly separates whole blood into plasma, buffy coat, and red cells by using centrifugal force to drop the cellular components to the bottom of a container.

  • Molecular Excitations

    • We have effectively ignored the possible centrifugal stretching of the molecule.
    • If one includes the centrifugal effects one finds that
    • The centrifugal stretching reduces the spacing of the angular momentum energy levels for large values of $L$, but it stiffens the spring constant of the vibrational states.

  • Kinematics of UCM

    • Just a few examples are the tension in the rope on a tether ball, the force of Earth's gravity on the Moon, friction between roller skates and a rink floor, a banked roadway's force on a car, and forces on the tube of a spinning centrifuge.

  • Rotational Collisions

    • An object that has a large angular velocity ω, such as a centrifuge, also has a rather large angular momentum.

  • Specimen Collection

    • Specimens are allowed to clot at room temperature and then are centrifuged.

  • Applications of the Parabola

    • In this case, the centrifugal force causes the liquid to climb the walls of the container, forming a parabolic surface (the principle behind the liquid mirror telescope).

  • Basics of DNA Replication

    • The DNA was centrifuged at high speeds in an ultracentrifuge in a tube in which a cesium chloride density gradient had been established.
    • Under these circumstances, during the spin the DNA was pulled down the ultracentrifuge tube by centrifugal force until it arrived at the spot in the salt gradient where the DNA molecules' density matched that of the surrounding salt solution.

  • Obama's Foreign Policy

    • Under the agreement, Iran agreed to eliminate its stockpile of medium-enriched uranium, cut its stockpile of low-enriched uranium by 98%, and reduce by about two-thirds the number of its gas centrifuges for 13 years.
    • Uranium-enrichment activities will be limited to a single facility using first-generation centrifuges for 10 years and other facilities will be converted to avoid proliferation risks.