the.com/centrifuge
a machine that flings matter in circles until gravity tattles on who's heaviest
means A machine that spins samples rapidly so that denser components are pushed outward and separate from lighter ones.
from From the Latin 'centrum' (center) and 'fugere' (to flee) — literally 'fleeing the center.' The same 'fugere' that gives us 'fugitive' and 'refuge' lurks here, naming the way flung matter seems to run away from the middle. The word was coined in the 19th century, when physicists needed a name for the outward 'centrifugal' tendency of whirling things.
- separation
- spins so fast lighter stuff floats, denser sinks
- uranium
- thousands chained together enrich nuclear fuel
- g-force
- some hit 1,000,000 times Earth's gravity
- astronaut training
- human ones simulate crushing launch acceleration
- medical staple
- separates blood into cells and plasma daily
ultracentrifuge at max planck — reaches 1 million g force, used to study protein structures since the 1930s
cern's lhc beam separator — electromagnetic centrifuge that separates particle beams at 99.9999% light speed near geneva
isis space station centrifuge — japanese kibo module experiment device that created artificial gravity for biological research