Ideal gas at STP: P = 1 atm, T = 273.15 K; used for gas-law estimates
About diffusion and transport: patterns that set rate and timing scales; relate to Fick’s law and Stokes–Einstein; diffusion time scales with distance as t ∝ L^2
Fast diffusion in water tends to occur for small, less hindered species; diffusion rate increases with temperature and decreases with viscosity and particle size
Basic gas–solid–liquid intuition helps frame how molecules move across barriers and through compartments
Diffusion, transport, and diffusion-limited processes
Diffusion basics:
Net movement of solute from high to low concentration driven by random thermal motion
Thermal motion is the random molecular motion due to temperature; collisions are elastic in idealized models
Fick’s law (through a slab):
Flux: J = -D rac{dC}{dx}
For a slab of thickness T with concentrations C1 and C2 on each side, the rate of transfer is ext{Rate} = D rac{A (C1 - C2)}{T}
Here: D is the diffusion coefficient (units: L2/T), A is area, T is thickness
Diffusion coefficient (D) factors:
D↑ with increasing temperature (T)
D↓ with higher solvent viscosity (η) and larger particle radius (r)