Question

What is diffusion and on what factors rate of diffusion depends?

Answer 1

Understanding the concept:

• Diffusion is the action of moving a substance ( solid, liquid, or gas) from a region of its higher concentration to a region of its lower concentration in order to distribute evenly.

Factors of Diffusion: There are three important factors on which diffusion depends.

The difference in concentration:

• The rate of diffusion increases with the magnitude of the concentration gradient.
• Diffusion will occur quickly, for instance, if the blood has a very low concentration of oxygen compared to the alveoli, which have a relatively high concentration.
• The rate of diffusion will be extremely low if both have concentrations that are nearly equal.

By temperature:

• Particles can diffuse over a membrane more quickly when the temperature rises because they have greater kinetic energy.
• Diffusion, therefore, occurs at a faster pace when the temperature rises.

Also depends on the surface(permeability of a membrane) :

• The rate of diffusion is influenced by the membrane's surface area.
• The rate of diffusion also rises as the membrane's surface area increases.