diffusion

thumb|right| Some particles are Dissolution (chemistry)|dissolved in a glass of water. At first, the particles are all near one top corner of the glass. If the particles randomly move around ("diffuse") in the water, they eventually become distributed randomly and uniformly from an area of high concentration to an area of low, and organized (diffusion continues, but with no net [[flux).]] thumb|Time lapse video of diffusion a dye dissolved in water into a gel.

AI overview

Diffusion is the process where particles randomly move around and gradually spread out from areas where they're concentrated to areas where they're sparse, until they're distributed evenly throughout. This matters because it's a fundamental way that substances mix and spread in liquids and other materials, happening naturally without any external force pushing them along.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

Research

590,974 papers

Protein Diffusion Along Protein and DNA Lattices: Role of Electrostatics and Disordered Regions.Annual review of biophysics · 2023
Transport in the Brain Extracellular Space: Diffusion, but Which Kind?International journal of molecular sciences · 2022
Diffusion in confined geometries.Chemphyschem : a European journal of chemical physics and physical chemistry · 2009
Investigation of time-dependent diffusion in extra-axial brain tumors using oscillating-gradient spin-echo.Magnetic resonance imaging · 2023
INTERCELLULAR DIFFUSION.Science (New York, N.Y.) · 1964

via PubMed

Wikidata facts

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Commons category: Diffusion
Commons gallery: Diffusion

Sources (4)

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~43 min read

Article

24 sections

Contents

Diffusion vs. bulk flow
Diffusion in the context of different disciplines
History of diffusion in physics
Basic models of diffusion
Definition of diffusion flux
Normal single component concentration gradient
Multicomponent diffusion and thermodiffusion
Nondiagonal diffusion must be nonlinear
Applied forces
Diffusion across a membrane
Ballistic time scale
Jumps on the surface and in solids
Porous media
Diffusion in physics
Diffusion coefficient in kinetic theory of gases
The theory of diffusion in gases based on Boltzmann's equation
Diffusion of electrons in solids
Diffusion in geophysics
Dialysis
Random walk (random motion)
Separation of diffusion from convection in gases
Other types of diffusion
See also
References

thumb|250px|Diffusion from a microscopic and b macroscopic point of view. Initially, there are solute molecules on the left side of a barrier (purple line) and none on the right. The barrier is removed, and the solute diffuses to fill the whole container. Top: A single molecule moves around randomly. Middle: With more molecules, there is a statistical trend that the solute fills the container more and more uniformly. Bottom: With an enormous number of solute molecules, all randomness is gone: The solute appears to move smoothly and deterministically from high-concentration areas to low-concentration areas. There is no microscopic [[force pushing molecules rightward, but there appears to be one in the bottom panel. This apparent force is called an entropic force.]]