A device or mechanism that divides or isolates different substances, materials, or components from each other. Used in various industries to sort, filter, or purify materials based on different physical or chemical properties.
From Latin 'separare' meaning 'to divide, disconnect' plus the agent suffix '-ator'. The mechanical device sense developed during the Industrial Revolution as manufacturing processes required more sophisticated sorting methods.
Cream separators revolutionized dairy farming in the 1800s by using centrifugal force to separate cream from milk - the same physics principle now used in modern laboratory centrifuges and industrial oil refineries. It's amazing how one mechanical concept can scale from farm kitchens to space stations!
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