Question

You are working in a biology lab and learning to use a new ultracentrifuge for blood ts. The specifications for the centrifuge say that a red blood cell rotating in the ultracentrifuge moves at 470 m/s and has a radial acceleration of 150,000 g's (that is, 150,000 times 9.8 m/s2). The radius of the centrifuge is 0.15 m. You wonder if this claim is correct.

What is the radial acceleration of the ultra-centrifuge using calculations ?

Answer 1

The radial acceleration is
`a_r = 1472667 \ m/s^2`

Step-by-step explanation:

From the question we are told that

The velocity of the red blood cell is
`v_r = 470 \ m/s`

The radial acceleration of the red blood cell is
`a_r = 150000g = 150000*9.8 = 1470000 \ m/s^2`

The radius of the centrifuge is
`r = 0.15 \ m`

Generally radial acceleration is mathematically represented as

`a_r = (v^2)/(r)`

substituting values

`a_r = (470^2)/(0.15)`

`a_r = 1472667 \ m/s^2`