Question

Student Exploration: Diffusion

Gizmo Warm-up

Smells are carried by tiny particles that move through the air. The Diffusion Gizmo™ shows gas particles in a chamber that is divided into two regions by a partial wall. Click Play () and observe.

1. Describe the motion of the gas particles. ________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

1. Over time, what is happening? ________________________________________________

This process, in which particles move from an area of high concentration (region A) to an area of low concentration (region B), is called diffusion.

2. Select the BAR CHART tab, and observe the chart for a few minutes. After the first 30 seconds or so, how much do the numbers of particles in each region change?

_________________________________________________________________________

     

      When the numbers don’t change much, the particles are said to be in dynamic equilibrium.

3. Click Pause (), and select the GRAPH tab. What does the graph tell you about the number of particles in region A? _______________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

Activity A: Temperature and diffusion

Get the Gizmo ready: Click Reset (). Set the Wall to 100%.

Answer 1

A) Diffusion is a process of movement of particles from a region of high concentration (A) to a region of low concentration (B), until an equilibrium is attained.

The motion of particels should be from region of high concentration A to low concentration region B.

B) Number of particles at region A should decrease with movement of particles to region B with time. The particles move to different regions until the area becomes completely saturated by the particles.

At equilibrium there will be no movement of particles. The complete area gets saturated by the particles.

C) The number of particles in region A should be in equilibrium to particles in region B. That is, number of particles moving from region A to region B is equal to number of particles moving from region B to region A.