Questions tagged [diffusion]
For questions referring to the process by which molecules move as a result of their kinetic energy.
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How do I express concentration of a substance at the interface between two membranes of different diffusivities and lengths at steady state?
I am lost on this question from my textbook:
"A solute diffuses across two membranes, A and B. The membranes' thickness are $\Delta x_A$ and $\Delta x_B$ respectively. The membranes' ...
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If gaseous oxygen and dissolved oxygen (in water) have the same partial pressure, will they diffuse into solid materials at comparable rate?
To be specific, I am wondering about the dynamics of molecular oxygen diffusion into gas-permeable polymer materials, which is the sensing process of the optical oxygen probe (polymer-encapsulated ...
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Colour composition of Bromine during diffusion?
Consider the diffusion of Bromine Gas within a tube filled with air.
After a prolonged period of time, is the colour composition uniform?
From my understanding, Bromine is a denser gas. Hence, on ...
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What determines how easily a gas can diffuse into a crystal structure?
I have been told by a metallurgist that the reason a factory oxidizes the iron oxides in ilmenite before reducing them down to pure iron, is that the the products of this have a more spacious crystal ...
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How does stirring demonstrate a diffusion-controlled reaction?
I was reading about diffusion-controlled reactions, and on the Wikipedia page (Diffusion-controlled_reaction) it says the following:
"One classical test for diffusion control is to observe ...
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Redefine a Mixing Modulus based on new reaction scheme
I am studying the effect of diffusion on liquid chemical reactions. The model is very simple in that it assumes that striations or slabs of fixed thickness of one reactant are next to the other. ...
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What happens to a solute's potential energy during diffusion?
I was thinking, if you have a large amount of water, with an uneven solute concentration, diffusion will lead to an even concentration of solute throughout the solution.
Intuitively,that would mean ...
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Diffusion rate of drugs - Ficks model?
I have a question about diffusion rate of a slow release drug. The drug I've been taking has an extended-release formulation and contains beads encapsulated in a capsule.
The beads are coated with a ...
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How do concentrations of different solutes across a cell membrane affect whether water leaves or enters the cell?
I know from class that water travels to where the solute concentration is higher. I have no problem visualizing it if it's just "salt." What if there are multiple types of solutes? For ...
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How to minimize sample dispersion during spotting for paper electrophoresis?
I am separating highly polar amino acids and their derivatives using paper electrophoresis. This requires pre-wetting a piece of filter paper with electrophoresis buffer (in this case, carbonate-...
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Relationship between molar flux and density of current
I am studying the mass transport for a charged species in a stirred solution. So, I have obtained the Nernst-Planck equation:
\begin{equation}
\mathbf{J} = -D\nabla C - \frac{zFDC}{RT}\nabla \phi + C\...
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Why do different places on Earth have different concentrations of particulate matter in the atmosphere? [closed]
From the second law of thermodynamics, I would expect the pollutants to diffuse from a region of higher concentration to a region of lower concentration. The rates of diffusion in liquids and solids ...
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Diffusion of particles across a plane surface
A relatively viscous material is coated with a thin film consisting of gold nanoparticles that can diffuse into the material. We can assume that all particles have a diameter of $\pu{25 nm}.$ Coating ...
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If Graham's law doesn't apply to the ammonia and hydrogen chloride diffusion in a glass tube demonstration, is there a law that does?
A comment below What exactly are "white fumes" and why does holding a bottle of ammonia (conc) next to a bottle of HCl (conc) make them? links to The
Royal Society Of Chemistry video ...
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Why does the factor of ⅔ come in when we calculate net flux due to diffusion for an ideal gas
As per Atkins' Physical Chemistry (11E) Pg:694. We arrive at a crude estimate for the net flux through an imaginary flux plane. We find it to be $$J_{z}=-\frac{1}{2}v_{mean}\lambda(\frac{d\mathcal{N}}{...
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Hydrogen Dispersion in room [closed]
I need to measure the concentrarion of pure hydrogen in a room caused by leakage or exhaust gases to evaluate the risk of ignition. Maybe there is some model available for indoor locations, similar to ...
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Why is the Einstein relation not valid for germanium?
In Elecronic Devices and Circuits, by J Millman and CC Halkias, it is written at one place:
.....coefficient of diffusion $D$ and mobility $\mu$ aren't independent. The relationship between them is ...
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Relation of temperature to effusion and diffusion [duplicate]
We were studying Graham's Law today and its dependence on Temperature, Pressure, Area, etc.
However, our teacher said that, for diffusion: $$R \propto \sqrt T$$ and for effusion:$$R\propto1/\sqrt T$$ ...
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If I have an oil that contains an impurity that's more soluble in water than in oil, is there a way to "wash out" the impurity with water?
Maybe this question is better classified as "physics" than chemistry, but I'm trying it here. Suppose I'm concerned about a substance S that is highly soluble in water and less soluble in ...
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Brownian motion of asymmetric particles
The classic Stokes-Einstein relation ($D=k_BT/(6\pi\eta r)$) it is assumed that the particle undergoing Brownian motion is spherical, and experiences ordinary Stokes flow between (or during) ...
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A physical meaning of the Danckwerts boundary condition in terms of concentration profile (adsorption)
Can someone please explain to me in a simplified way, what exactly does a well-recognized Danckwerts boundary condition do to the concentration profile of adsorption phenomena? I just cannot find a ...
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What unit and dimension for membrane permeability / permeation expression?
Context
When studying the diffusion of gases through thin membrane, one may use the diffusion coefficient $D$ used in Fick's laws as (one dimension form):
\begin{equation}
J = - D \cdot\frac{d\varphi}{...
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Diffusion coefficient for acid base reaction
I am trying to model an acid-base neutralization reaction. There are two adjacent slabs - one acid and one base. Each slab is the same thickness and I'm only looking at one-dimensional diffusion/...
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Hydrogen permeation from low to high absolute pressure area due to difference in partial pressure?
I need to get help with a question regarding hydrogen permeation which I do not really how to get around.
The statement is as following:
A steel container contains helium gas at high pressure (100 ...
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When is it realistic to model diffusion without advection?
Brownian motion abounds in nature, but so does drift current. In theoretical models of solutions and colloidal suspensions it is sometimes assumed that advection is negligible. I'm wondering if this ...
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Molecular diffusivity of a three-component mixture
I usually used a following expression by Fuller & Schettler & Giddings to predict molecular diffusivities of binary mixtures:
\begin{equation}
D_i = \dfrac{1\cdot 10^{-4}\left(0.00143\cdot T^{...
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Finding molar mass of uranium fluoride using Graham’s law of diffusion
Problem
A sample of uranium fluoride is found to effuses at the rate of $\pu{17.7 mg/h}.$ Under comparable conditions, gaseous iodine effuses at the rate of $\pu{15.0 mg/h}.$ What is the molar mass ...
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What is the relation of water potential with gibbs free energy? [closed]
In my high school textbook, they have stated that diffusion is a process in which water moves along a free energy gradient. I cannot understand how water potential may be related to the Gibbs free ...
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Porous materials: Is the expression of a mean free path $\overline{\ell}$ of the gas molecule valid for a binary mixtures?
Suppose that I have a binary gas mixture at low pressure. Can I calculate the mean free path $\overline{\ell}$ of the gas molecule in a pores of solid material by substituting a molecular weight of a ...
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real meaning of osmotic and turgor pressures
I am a high school student and I am very confused in how we define osmotic pressure? Osmotic pressure is defined as the pressure required to stop the diffusion of solvent into a solution by applying ...
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Difference in collision cross-section obtained by measurement method
I have a simple question of Physical Chemistry, but I don't know the answer.
We can find collision cross-section(σ) through experiments in three ways.
first, diffusion flux experiment. diffusion ...
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Permeability of containers to poop smells
I do a lot of hiking trips that involve driving for an hour or two to the trailhead in the predawn hours. I'm a morning pooper, so I need to poop during the drive. Before COVID, I would usually plan a ...
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Why does ink form tendrils on wet paper [closed]
When a drop of ink or watercolour paint is placed on wet paper, rather than uniformly diffusing in all directions it forms tendrils which rapidly expand out from the spot.
Why is this and what is the ...
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Is it easier to mix a solution that is in the liquid or in the vapor phase?
In the article on dilution, Wikipedia has the following statement:
The same direct relationship applies to gases and vapors diluted in air for example. Although, thorough mixing of gases and vapors ...
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Whats the driving force behind simple diffusion? Is it just the count of molecules?
If I were to have two separate containers with solutions of different concentrations with a small opening, most of the molecules would flow down the concentration gradient. Does this occur just ...
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What is b in the Gompertz model?
I am wondering how to use the Gompertz model in modelling drug diffusion:
$$x(t) = x_\mathrm{max}\exp(-a\exp(b\log t)).$$
$x_\mathrm{max}$ is to be taken as $100,$ $a$ is the undissolved proportion at ...
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How do I compute the mean dissociation time from the dissociation constant, assuming instantaneous binding reaction rate?
There is a solution with two chemical species, A and B. Given the equilibrium dissociation constant
$
K_D=\frac{[A][B]}{[AB]}
$
how do I relate the mean dissociation time $t_{off}$ to $K_D$, and ...
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Ratio of rates of diffusion of gases
I stumbled upon a question, A mixture of 50 mL of Hydrogen gas and 50mL of Oxygen gas is allowed to effuse through an effusimeter. After some time it is observed that the residual gas occupies 90mL. ...
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Modelling pH as function of time and position
I already posted this on the Engineering Stack Exchange under Chemical Engineering as I don't know where it's a better fit.
I have a system whose initial state consists of three different sections ...
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How long will it takes two miscible liquids to fully mix (homogenize) through diffusion?
This question occurred to me while I was pouring milk into my coffee and was too lazy to stir.
Assume you have some volume $V_a$ of liquid A directly on top of another volume $V_b$ of liquid B. The ...
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Indirectly Measuring Diffusion of NO2 into Water
I am working on a data science project with the central hypothesis is that air-born pollutants can become water-born through diffusion. The example I am using as a proof of concept is $\ce{NO2}$. The ...
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Algae Cultivation Using Polyethylene Film Reactor Vessel Floating In Pool with Algicidal ClO2 Concentration
I'm attempting to grow chlorella algae in a polyethylene film bag (which contains the growth medium) submerged in a temperature-moderating, above-ground swimming pool. This presents a challenge in ...
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Do the concepts of Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluids still hold at a nanoscopic level?
Recently I've spent a great deal of time thinking about enzyme diffusion in cytoplasm. One thing that keeps me awake at night is the constant referral to cytoplasm as a non-Newtonian fluid (which it ...
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What is the relative rate of diffusion of ammonia to hydrogen chloride, both in gaseous states? [closed]
I encountered this problem during an assignment:
I answered it as C, but the assignment grader marked it as wrong and indicated that A is correct.
I asked another instructor about it and gave me a ...
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Boundary conditions in a closed system for diffusion (2nd Fick's law) in a porous medium
I would like to calculate the chloride redistribution in concrete (assumption: porous and homogeneous structure, purely diffusion-controlled mass transfer, closed system). For this I have derived a ...
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Electrochemistry - Understanding Diffusion Potential
I have a big problem trying to wrap my head around this for several hours and I cannot seem to make sense of it.
I have to link this scheme with the 3 colored potential profiles on the bottom of the ...
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Is the solution isotonic, hypertonic, or hypotonic?
The problem is shown below. I don't understand how can the tonicity of a solution be determined if the solution has multiple solutes dissolved in it.
Do I take the total sum of the mass of solutes ...
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Tungsten-Rhenium alloy connections to Copper. Methods?
I want to use some fine WRe wire (50 micron diameter, 80/20) in a particular environment where it has to conduct a few millamps of current while supporting 100g of mass. The problem being the contact ...
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What makes the odor of flatulence fade away? [closed]
If an individual expelled their intestinal gas in an enclosed space, that smell would seemingly fade away. Why is this so? I would think of 3 possible explanations:
The gases dilute in the air. If ...
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Fick's second law atomic diffusion question [closed]
I have a question about diffusion and i'm not sure how to tackle it.
A new processing method is being tried for a lithium battery cathode material -LiCoO2. the process leaves the ceramic oxygen ...
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