How can we separate fine particles of an insoluble solid from a liquid?
Centrifuges are devices or apparatus that can be used to separate insoluble materials (usually a solid) from a liquid, where normal filtration does not work well e.g. a suspension of very fine (tiny) solid particles. The centrifuge consists of carriage or glass tube holder, mounted on an electrically motor driven vertical axle. The carriage holds the balanced glass tubes of equal amounts of the solid-liquid mixture in each tube, all tubes initially in a horizontal position before the motor is switched on. The tube carriage is rotated at high speed safely in a fully enclosed container. Unbalanced tubes can break with the extra vibration and this situation has a ‘knock on’ effect, quite literally, as other tubes are likely to shatter with the erratic high speed unbalanced motion. High velocity glass fragments are not good for you! On rapid rotation of the carriage the tubes whirl round horizontally and the centrifugal force causes the more dense insoluble material particles to move outwa
