Centrifugation?

[imapremed]

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My Kaplan book says that centrifugation is done by mass, density and shape...

I always thought that centrifugation was density dependent... can anyone enlighten me as to if there are different types of centrifugation depend on mass others on density and others on shape?

What exactly does shape mean anyway? like baloon shaped vs box shapped? no volume contentation here right?

 

[paul411]

Read this for a very good explanation: http://bricker.tcnj.edu/tech/BIOL311centrifugation.html

Essentially, the shape affects the "frictional coefficient" which is a factor in describing the path of a molecule during centrifugation.

 

[MD Odyssey]

Read this for a very good explanation: http://bricker.tcnj.edu/tech/BIOL311centrifugation.html

Essentially, the shape affects the "frictional coefficient" which is a factor in describing the path of a molecule during centrifugation.

I would imagine that this is what is affecting the viscosity and therefore the centrifugation rate. Thanks for that link, by the way.

 

[imapremed]

Read this for a very good explanation: http://bricker.tcnj.edu/tech/BIOL311centrifugation.html

Essentially, the shape affects the "frictional coefficient" which is a factor in describing the path of a molecule during centrifugation.

WOW! great link! and if i may ask one more favor... on this website they say size = mass.... is that always true in scientific terms? or is size like referring to volume or length when they are all the same shape and then cuz things can have the same density they have the same mass? like in SDS-page the bigger (longer) proteins move the least cuz of sieving adn since all proteins ahve almost a similar mass/length ratio the heavier ones move the least?