What Is Centrifugation?

Centrifugation is the process of concentrating the natural forces that act on all particles of different densities to accelerate the natural process of separation.

It is what separates the particles by density in the test tube. Centrifugation can occur with either filtration or sedimentation methods.

Filtration uses a mesh screen to hold back the solid components and allow the liquid components to flow through. Filtering does not work to centrifuge blood samples because the blood components are too small.

In either method, the particles are suspended in liquid and separated in the centrifuge machine. The separation happens due to centrifugal force, which pushes objects outward – toward the tip of the tube, in the case of blood tubes – as they are spun around in a circle.