Sedimentation

Sedimentation is the tendency for particles in suspension or molecules in solution to settle

out of the fluid in which they are entrained, and come to rest against a wall. This is due to
their motion through the fluid in response to the forces acting on them. These forces can be
due to gravity, centrifugal acceleration or of electromagnetic in nature.

Sedimentation process may involve objects of various sizes

 large rocks in flowing water
 suspensions of dust and pollen particles
 cellular suspensions
 solutions of single molecules such as proteins and peptides.

The term sedimentation is more commonly used in geology, to describe the deposition of
sediment which results in the formation of sedimentary rock. It is also used in describing
various chemical and environmental processes that involves motion of small particles and
molecules.

Physics: In a sedimentation experiment, the applied force accelerates the particles against a
viscous force that depends on the velocity. The particles attain a terminal velocity vterm when
the applied force is exactly cancelled by the opposing drag force. For small enough particles
(low Reynolds number), the drag force varies linearly with the terminal velocity

Fdrag = fvterm

This is known as Stokes flow where f depends only on the properties of the particle and the
surrounding fluid. Similarly, the applied force generally varies linearly with some coupling
constant (denoted here as q) that depends only on the properties of the particle

Fapp = qEapp

The sedimentation coefficient is defined by

It depends only on the properties of the particle and the surrounding fluid. Sedimentation
coefficient can describe underlying properties of the particle.

In bounded volume, the resulting accumulation of particles at the boundary is called

sediment. The concentration of particles at the boundary is opposed by the diffusion of the
particles. The sedimentation of particles under gravity is described by the Mason-Weaver
equation (s= mb / f, where mb is the buoyant mass). The sedimentation of particles under
the centrifugal force is described by the Lamm equation. Although the expression for
sedimentation coefficient has the same mathematical form in both these equations, the
underlying physics and solutions are different.
Particles with a charge or dipole moment can be sedimented by an electric field or electric
field gradient, respectively. These processes are called electrophoresis and
dielectrophoresis, respectively. For electrophoresis, the sedimentation coefficient
corresponds to the particle charge divided by its drag (the electrophoretic mobility).
Similarly, for dielectrophoresis, the sedimentation coefficient equals the particle's electric
dipole moment divided by its drag.

Examples: In chemistry, sedimentation has been used to measure the size of large
molecules (macromolecule), where the force of gravity is augmented with centrifugal force
in a centrifuge. In biology, the sedimentation of organisms is a critical issue for planktonic
organisms, as sinking under gravity moves them away from the surface, where sunlight
provides energy.

(Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sedimentation)