Centrifugation

• Centrifuges are instruments used to separate cells or cell organelles using centrifugal force.
• Ordinary tabletop centrifuges are used in cell cultures to isolate whole cells from culture media.
• High-speed centrifuges or ultraccentrifuges are used to isolate different organelles by a process called differential centrifugation.
• Differential centrifugation is based on the principle that particles of different shapes and sizes settle at the bottom of a centrifuge tube at different sedimentation rates.
• High-speed centrifuges are capable of spinning up to 75,000 revoloutions per minute (rpm), producing forces equivalent to around 500,000 times that of earth's gravity.