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Anomalies in sedimentation. III. A model for the inherent instability of solutions of very large particles in high centrifugal fields
Author(s) -
Schumaker Verne N.,
Zimm Bruno H.
Publication year - 1973
Publication title -
biopolymers
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.556
H-Index - 125
eISSN - 1097-0282
pISSN - 0006-3525
DOI - 10.1002/bip.1973.360120416
Subject(s) - sedimentation , sedimentation coefficient , diffusion , cluster (spacecraft) , chemistry , mechanics , instability , field (mathematics) , molecule , chemical physics , physics , thermodynamics , geology , pure mathematics , programming language , paleontology , biochemistry , mathematics , organic chemistry , sediment , computer science , enzyme
Sedimentation, diffusion, and hydrodynamic interaction are included in a simplified model for the behavior of a solution macromolecules in a centrifugal field. The model is simulated by a program on a digital computer. As the diffusion coefficient is allowed to decrease, the simulation shows that the molecules tend to cluster in high centrifugal fields. The clusters move through the solution in the direction of sedimentation in a wave‐like fashion, acquiring new molecules at the front and shedding old ones to the rear. It is suggested that this tendency to cluster could account for the loss of DNA and other very large molecules from solution which is observed to occur at high centrifugal fields.