CentrifugationisaprocessusedtoseparateorconcentratematerialssUSPendedinaliquidmedium.Thetheoreticalbasisofthistechniqueistheeffectofgravityonparticles(includingmacromolecules)insuspension.Twoparticlesofdifferentmasseswillsettleinatubeatdifferentratesinresponsetogravity.Centrifugalforce(measuredasxg,gravity)isusedtoincreasethissettlingrateinaninstrumentcalledacentrifuge.Twocommonexamplesoftheuseofcentrifugalforceare:(1)Whenyoudothe"aroundtheworld"trickwithayo-yo,itiscentrifugalforcethatmakestheyo-yobodystayattheendofthestringasyourotateit;and(2)Whenyouwashclothesinawashingmachine,itiscentrifugalforcegeneratedinthe"spin"cyclethatforceswateroutofthefabrictofacilitatefasterdrying. Centrifugesaredevicesusedinavarietyofscientificandtechnicalapplicationswhichspincarriervessels(centrifugetubes)athighrotationspeedsandveryhighcentrifugalforce.Thecentrifugalforce(expressedas#gravitiesor,#xg)generatedisproportionaltotherotationrateoftherotor(inrpm)andthedistancebetweentherotorcenterandthecentrifugetube.Therefore,agivencentrifugemayusemultiplerotorsizestogiveflexibiltyinchoosingcentrifugationconditions.Eachcentrifugehasaspecialgraph,anomograph,oratablewhichrelatesrotationrate(rpm)tocentrifugalforce(xg)foreachsizeofrotoritaccepts. Typically,thematerialtobe"spun"isplacedinacentrifugetubewhichisthenplacedinarotor.Therotorisagenerallyadensemetalwhichdissipatesheatquickly,andisofsufficientmassthatitgeneratesmomentum,i.e.,onceitsspinningitrequireslittleenergytokeepitgoing.Centrifugesgenerallyworkundervacuumandarerefrigeratedtoreduceheatingcausedbyfrictionalforcesastherotorspins.Rotorsareusuallystoredinrefrigerationunitstokeepthematorneartheoperatingtemperature. Becausecentrifugescomeinallshapesandsizes,andtherotorsvary,theuniversalandtransferableunitofcentrifugationiscentrifugalforce(xg).Inlabwrite-upsyoushouldreportthecentrifugationforceused(#gravities)becauseitisthetransferableunitbetweendifferentcentrifuges. Topofpage DifferentialCentrifugation Themostcommontechnique,calleddifferentialcentrifugation,isusedtoseparateparticlesfromaliquidmediumortoseparateparticlesofdifferentmassesintoseparatefractionsofthesupernatant.Wewillusethistechniqueinaseveralwaysinthiscourse. 1.IntheBios42Amylaselabwewillusecentrifugationtopelletthecellulardebrisandexcessstarchduringtheenzymeextractpreparation.Theenzyme,whichissoluble,willremaininthesupernatant.Duringtheactualexperiment,wewillusecentrifugationtoseparatetheenzyme(soluble)fromitssubstrate(insolubleamylose-azure)tostopthereaction. 2.Inthemolecularlabswewillusecentrifugationtopromoteachemicalreactionbyforcingsmallquantitiesofreactantstogetherinthebottomofmicrocentrifugetubes.Wewillalsousecentrifugationtopreparebacterialcellsfortransformationbyalternatelypelletingthemandthenresuspendingthemwithdifferentchemicalsolutions. 3.IntheHillReactionlabwewilluseamulti-stepdifferentialcentrifugation(Fig.9-3)toisolatecellorganelles(chloroplasts)fromcrudecellularhomogenate.Becausetheorganelleshavemuchlessmassthanthecellwallcomponents,thefirstpelletthatformsatlowcentrifugalforceisprimarilycellulardebris.Theorganellefractionisthenpelletedathighercentrifugalforce. Topofpage CentrifugeCautions: ThesecautionspresumeyouhavehadproperinstructionintheuseofthecentrifugeORhavereadtheinstructionmanualthoroughly. 1.Makesurethecorrectrotorisbeingusedandthatitisinstalledproperlyonthespindle. 2.Balancetheloadintherotor-everytubemusthaveabalancetubeintheoppositeslotwiththesamevolumeoffluid. 3.Makesureyouareusingtheappropriatecentrifugetubeforthejob-theycanruptureattoohighaspeed. 4.Pre-coolthecentrifugeandtherotor.Rotorsshouldbestoredinarefrigerator. 5.DONOTattempttooverrideanysafetyfeaturesofthecentrifuge. 6.NEVERleavethecentrifugeunattendeduntilitreachesmaximumspeedandisgoingsmoothly. 7.Whenindoubt,ASKFORHELP.