Answer:
Specimens are centrifuged to separate the components of a mixture based on their density. Centrifugation is a laboratory technique that involves spinning the specimen at high speeds, causing the denser particles to move towards the bottom of the tube.
Step-by-step explanation:
Here's how centrifugation works:
1. The specimen is placed in a centrifuge tube, which is balanced to ensure even distribution during spinning.
2. The tube is then placed in a centrifuge machine, which rapidly rotates the tube.
3. As the tube spins, the centrifugal force pushes the denser particles to the bottom of the tube, forming a pellet.
4. The less dense components, such as liquid or lighter particles, remain above the pellet.
5. After centrifugation, the tube is carefully removed from the centrifuge machine.
6. The supernatant, which is the liquid portion above the pellet, can be carefully separated from the pellet using pipettes or other laboratory techniques.
Centrifugation is commonly used in various scientific and medical fields, such as in clinical laboratories to separate blood components, in molecular biology to isolate DNA or RNA, and in biochemistry to purify proteins.
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