Instruments

Centrifuge

Citation Formats

General Reference

Science Atlas. "Centrifuge." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://science.interactiveatlas.org/instruments/centrifuge.

APA Style

Science Atlas. (n.d.). Centrifuge. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://science.interactiveatlas.org/instruments/centrifuge

BibTeX

@misc{scienceatlas-centrifuge,
  author = {Science Atlas},
  title = {Centrifuge},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://science.interactiveatlas.org/instruments/centrifuge},
  note = {Accessed August 30, 2026}
}

The centrifuge spins a sample at high speed to separate its components by density, substituting a strong artificial force for gravity so that heavier particles or fluids move outward faster than lighter ones. The German dairy engineer Antonin Prandtl built an early laboratory centrifuge around 1864 to separate cream from milk; the principle was later pushed to far higher speeds in Theodor Svedberg's ultracentrifuge of the 1920s, developed to measure the size of proteins and other large molecules, work for which Svedberg received the 1926 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

Facts

Measures

Separates substances of different densities under centrifugal force. 1

Operating Principle

The sample spins at high speed so radial acceleration drives denser material outward and to the bottom of the tube while less dense material rises to the top. 1

Operating Range

Hand-powered laboratory centrifuges reach radial velocities of over 1,732 rpm; specialized centrifuges used in aerospace testing can expose samples to as much as 20 times Earth's gravity. 1

Disputed

Invented Year

1864 2

Prandtl's 1864 dairy centrifuge is the earliest widely cited practical device; Theodor Svedberg's ultracentrifuge, developed through the 1920s and recognized by the 1926 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, is the version most directly tied to the instrument's scientific use.

Open Questions

Resolution

Not stated as a single numeric figure; ultracentrifuges are described as able to separate particles down to the nanoscale and molecules by mass, without one resolving-power number. 1

Capability described only qualitatively in the cited source.

Cross-Tradition Connections

Invented By

Antonin Prandtl

Why this is disputed. Credit for the first practical centrifuge is debated among several nineteenth century inventors working on cream separators and industrial separators around the same period.

Source Centrifuge (Britannica)

Theodor Svedberg

Extended the centrifuge principle to far higher speeds in the 1920s with the ultracentrifuge, reaching roughly 100,000 times gravity by 1925 to 26 and enabling the first direct measurement of protein molecular weights; awarded the 1926 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the work.

Source Theodor Svedberg (Wikipedia)