Definition
A Svedberg unit (represented as S or sometimes Sv) is a non-Système Internationale unit for sedimentation rate. The unit is named after Swedish chemist Theodor Svedberg (1884–1971), who won the 1926 Nobel Prize in chemistry for his work on colloids and the invention of the ultracentrifuge. The sedimentation rate is a measure of how quickly a particle sediments from a solution or suspension under the induced gravitational field of a centrifuge.
The sedimentation coefficient is the ratio of the speed of a substance in a centrifugal field to its acceleration in comparable units. A substance with a sedimentation coefficient of 1S (10−13 s) will travel at 1 mm per second (10−6 m s−1) under the influence of an acceleration of 106 G (107 m s−2). Centrifugal acceleration is given as rω2, where r is the radial distance from the rotation axis and ω is the angular velocity in radians s−1.
Though the Svedberg unit is technically a measure of time (10−13s), it also offers a measure of...
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Cleaves, H.J.(. (2015). Svedberg Unit. In: Gargaud, M., et al. Encyclopedia of Astrobiology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-44185-5_5249
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