A sieve, fine mesh strainer, or sift is a tool used for separating wanted elements from unwanted material or for controlling the particle size distribution of a sample, using a screen such as a woven mesh or net or perforated sheet material.[1] The word sift derives from sieve.
In cooking, a sifter is used to separate and break up clumps in dry ingredients such as flour, as well as to aerate and combine them. A strainer (see colander), meanwhile, is a form of sieve used to separate suspended solids from a liquid by filtration.
Sieving is a simple technique for separating particles of different sizes. A sieve such as used for sifting flour has very small holes. Coarse particles are separated or broken up by grinding against one another and the screen openings. Depending upon the types of particles to be separated, sieves with different types of holes are used. Sieves are also used to separate stones from sand. Sieving plays an important role in food industries where sieves (often vibrating) are used to prevent the contamination of the product by foreign bodies. The design of the industrial sieve is of primary importance here.[2]
Triage sieving refers to grouping people according to their severity of injury.
The mesh in a wooden sieve might be made from wood or wicker. Use of wood to avoid contamination is important when the sieve is used for sampling.[3] Henry Stephens, in his Book of the Farm, advised that the withes of a wooden riddle or sieve be made from fir or willow with American elm being best. The rims would be made of fir, oak or, especially, beech.[4]
A sieve analysis (or gradation test) is a practice or procedure used (commonly used in civil engineering or sedimentology) to assess the particle size distribution (also called gradation) of a granular material. Sieve sizes used in combinations of four to eight sieves.[5]
| Tyler | Nominal | Sieve | |
|---|---|---|---|
| opening | |||
| — | 5 inch | 125mm | |
| — | 4.24 inch | 106mm | |
| — | 4 inch | 100mm | |
| — | inch | 90mm | |
| 2.97 inch | 3.0 inch | 75mm | |
| — | inch | 63mm | |
| — | 2.12 inch | 53mm | |
| 2.10 inch | 2 inch | 50mm | |
| — | inch | 45mm | |
| 1.48 inch | inch | 37.5mm | |
| — | inch | 31.5mm | |
| 1.05 inch | 1.06 inch | 26.5mm | |
| — | 1 inch | 25mm | |
| 0.883 inch | inch | 22.4mm | |
| 0.742 inch | inch | 19mm | |
| 0.624 inch | inch | 16mm | |
| 0.525 inch | 0.530 inch | 13.2mm | |
| — | 1/2 inch | 12.5mm | |
| 0.441 inch | inch | 11.2mm | |
| 0.371 inch | inch | 9.5mm | |
In iconography, the sieve was used as a symbol of chastity, in reference to the Latin legend recounting how the vestal virgin Tuccia carried water from the Tiber in a sieve without losing a drop, thus proving her virginity.
At least two portraits of Queen Elizabeth I of England, known as the Virgin Queen, show her holding a sieve in her hand. The earliest was the 1579 portrait by George Gower, showing the 46 year-old queen with a globe as symbol of imperial expansion, and a sieve for her declared virginity.[6] The same symbols appear in a later portrait signed by Quentin Metsys the Younger.[7]
