A
gas centrifuge is a device that performs
isotope separation of gases. A
centrifuge relies on the principles of
centrifugal force accelerating molecules so that particles of different masses are physically separated in a gradient along the radius of a rotating container. A prominent use of gas centrifuges is for the separation of
uranium-235 from
uranium-238. The gas centrifuge was developed to replace the
gaseous diffusion method of uranium-235 extraction. High degrees of separation of these isotopes relies on using many individual centrifuges arranged in cascade, that achieve successively higher concentrations. This process yields higher concentrations of uranium-235 while using significantly less energy compared to the gaseous diffusion process.