Application of the archibald sedimentation principle to paucidisperse macromoleculaar systems

The authors have found experimentally that the initial slope of a Trautman plot of data obtained from sedimentation‐velocity experiments yields the z‐average molecular weight of the solute components. It is also well known that the weight‐average molecular weight is obtainable from such a plot. Equations are derived which permit the calculation of the individual concentrations and molecultar weight for unknown twocomponent paucidisperse systems. The experimental results on various two‐component protein mixtures are compared to known values. It was found that the ratio of the weight concentrations of two components must be within about one to five for accurate results. It may be possible to extend the method to multicomponent systems. One could then rapidly determine the size distribution of synthetic and natural heterogeneous polymers.