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Will it centrifuge?
I have recently obtained a desk-top centrifuge which has yet to be used. It takes tubes with a volume of 1.5ml, and subjects them to accelerations of up to 8500 gravities (by comparison, most theme park rides top out at 5 gravities).
So - what should I put in it?
I plan to collect ideas and then spend an evening or a weekend in the shed...
Edit:
First results are in.
Blood!
The Club Edition
Discussions
11 years ago
You sure it was doing 13k rpm? Your PSU @ 12v gave 1A = 12w lol
Wire that beast up to a high wattage ATX PSU or a car battery...then it'll spin :)
You could always go for broke and 24v it :):)
Reply 11 years ago
If you check the links, one of the slides shows the centrifuge's specifications, including rpm vs voltage. There is very little weight in the rotor, and the bearings are very smooth.
11 years ago
Thank you for this great instructable. In my years of acquiring the odd and bizarre, I do happen to have a centrifuge. Other than blood, I couldn't think of anything else to do with it. Thanks for the ideas and please, other readers, contribute more ideas on uses for a centrifuge.
Reply 11 years ago
Thanks! Don't forget to post your results.
11 years ago
I reccommend gasoline and, if y'all have it over there in the UK, E85. Spit. I'd like to see spit centrifuged. And I have a question (I know, I'm impossible this time of the morning): what sort of RPM does that centrifuge achieve?
Reply 11 years ago
Check the third slide
Reply 11 years ago
Oooh, fun. That means I could build one with an old router. Mwahahahahahaha!
Reply 11 years ago
You'd better hurry - at least two other members claim to be putting a centrifuge Instructable together.
Reply 11 years ago
what's up with you guys?
I am still waiting for an instable. somebody please make a centrifuge.
I have three other projects going so I don't have the time to experiment. I also got 30 Lithium Ion battery packs. what to do, what to do. maybe the folding electric bicycle?
http://www.evalbum.com/609
Reply 11 years ago
Instructable*
hehe, its the devil inside me :D
Reply 11 years ago
He clearly meant to spell " Unstable."
Reply 11 years ago
Ahem:
Hehe, it's the devil inside me.
;-)
Reply 11 years ago
Yep
Reply 11 years ago
I was working on one, but was struck by a bolt of common sense. Spinning a home-machined steel drum about at 20,000 rpm seemed like it might do a little damage... to my favorite router, not myself. Anyone have any tips for machining with precision when one's only machine tools are thridhand at best and homemade in the middle of the night at worst?
Reply 11 years ago
Check with killerjackalope, see how far he's got.
Reply 11 years ago
Oh, and it's only 2:21am on the West Coast - It's eight hours later in the UK, I've had a lay-in and I'm off shopping in a few minutes.
11 years ago
The question I like the best is Will it blend?
Put any liquid you can get your hands on in it!
11 years ago
. I think I'd try separating a petroleum product. See how many different components you can separate from, for instance, 3-In-One oil. Or anything else made of liquids with slightly different weights.
. Blood or other body fluids.
Reply 11 years ago
. Blood or other body fluids.
That could give the youngin's of his household or his class something to embarrass him with ;-) (under the microscope)...look those little cells have tails, why is that? What it their purpose? *grin*
11 years ago
Right, I got fed up waiting for responses from manufacturers, so I went ahead and published an 'ible anyway.
Enjoy
11 years ago
Do we know if the "sediment" in the lamb's blood was some of the red blood cells or maybe some micro-clotting because if the age of the blood, or maybe some other contaminate?
Reply 11 years ago
Apparently I over-spun the blood, and the cells broke up - maybe it was the "shells" (membranes) of the red blood cells?
Reply 11 years ago
collapsed the cells did you ? :-)
At least we will know what happens to our blood if we are ever placed under 8500 gravities ;-)
Reply 11 years ago
Bang go any plans of holidaying on a neutron star!
Reply 11 years ago
lol. In science my teacher told me that one TSP of the matter of a neutron star would weigh over 1,000,000,000 tons( It might have been 1,000,000 but anyway its a lot) What about a black hole? How much gravity does that have anyway? I know it has enough to kill me but exactly how much is that? lol, you should try putting a swab of your cheek cells in there, who know what would happen. And Jello, as Jello can change it shape and then form back, i just wonder if it would make it something like liquid.
Reply 11 years ago
I bet jello would "go liquid" in there. :-)
Reply 11 years ago
who knows.
Reply 11 years ago
Well, Kiteman might find out if he sees this :-)
Reply 11 years ago
O he will see this, i promises!
Kiteman look here, read the last comments on new stuff to test!!!!!!!!!!
Reply 11 years ago
> ears ringing < Alright, already. ~~Jello~~ Jelly, added to the list.
Reply 11 years ago
cool! and what about the swab of cheek cells? i wonder what would happen to them. though you would have to take the picture through a microscope just to see it. and a marshmallow! that would be cool!
Reply 11 years ago
Hmm, too bad there isn't an easy way to add a little "weight" to the "inside edge|" of the marshmallow......one might end up with marshmallow paper....LOL
Reply 11 years ago
true... hmm... well i am out of ideas.
Reply 11 years ago
i hope!
Reply 11 years ago
...where you could do the Neutron Dance, eh? :-)
11 years ago
A fly, bee,worm,or spider would be cool to see :P
Reply 11 years ago
That would be, in principal, cruel.
Reply 11 years ago
*shocked gasp*
Reply 11 years ago
What?
I'm not against killing vermin, I am against killing them in a potentially slow and needlessly painful way. Yes, I know they're "only" insects, but I try and have respect for all living things, as an example to my children and my students. It is but a few short steps from "it's only a fly" to "it's only a dog" and then "it's only a >insert minority group<".
In fact, atheist though I am, I rather like the old druid credo; Do what thou wilt, an it harm none.
Reply 11 years ago
I meant you spelt principle "principal"
Probably should have made that clear
Sorry
Reply 11 years ago
Oh
Reply 11 years ago
not if it is a dead housefly or moth ect
Reply 11 years ago
I never thought of that - I'll keep my eyes open.
11 years ago
Wow! That's a lot of g's!!! I read the title and wondered if you could make a DIY centerfuge by swinging a testube around on a +1m string -- but that number makes me think differently...
Reply 11 years ago
Would it be even remotely possible to achieve those G's with a fairly large DC motor?
Reply 11 years ago
My centrifuge is DC.
Reply 11 years ago
yes but how long can it be or need it be sustained for any desired results? Very think things like peanut butter might take a bit of time. Or not do anything at all if the densities are similar enough. Just because one is a liquid (the oils) and the other portion if solid doesn't mean they will separate under increased gravitational forces.
Reply 11 years ago
Got that front covered zach, expect results soon enough...
11 years ago
Ooooo... lemme ask my friend who works at the blood labs at RD&E, he likes this sort of idea. Food items are clearly going to provide a lot of entertainment value- I'd suggest something homogeneous made of dairy, like yoghurt, cream, butter, mayonnaise or custard. An investigation of what unspeakable solid horrors come out of milk substitutes like alpro, "Oat supreme" or "Rice dream" would probably put me off said milk substitutes for life. Perhaps a suspension of solid in liquid- you could investigate its effectiveness at separating biscuit crumbs from tea :) Thinking of biscuits, if you can find a suitably pliable sort of flapjack that could be interesting, if it flowed to take up the shape of the phial. Foodstuffs that separate slightly anyway into oily and non-oily could be enlightening, perhaps korma sauce? I'd also be fascinated to see what happens to jelly and ice cream together... and finally, just for wordplay value, perhaps some yellow cake?
Reply 11 years ago
OOH yes, you could separate cream out of goats milk with that thing (it is hard to do even with a normal separator). Make your own cheese :-)