Fluorescence activated cell sorting (FACS) is atechnique used to sort and separa
ID: 1761540 • Letter: F
Question
Fluorescence activated cell sorting (FACS) is atechnique used to sort and separate cells based on type. Briefly, amixed population of differently fluorescently abeled cells isforced into a narrow fluid stream that is broken up into drops thatcontain about one cell each. An automated system scans each dropand depending on the type of cell in the drop a different charge isapplied to the drop. The drops then pass between charged plateswhere the field causes differently charged drops to deflect in different directions. One can thencollect the sorted drops and end up with pure populations of eachcell type.
a.Assuming a uniform field of 550 V/cm between the plates, what isthe force on a drop with a charge of +1nC?
b.If the drop in part (a) has a mass of 1.5 X 10-9 gm how long will ittake to deflect by a horizontal distance of about 3.0cm?