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In the scope of time, diffusion in solids was used long before the theory of diffusion was created. For example, Pliny the Elder had previously described the cementation process, which produces steel from the element iron (Fe) through carbon diffusion.
Fick's first law relates the diffusive flux to the gradient of the concentration. It postulates that the flux goes from regions of high concentration to regions of low concentration, with a magnitude that is proportional to the concentration gradient (spatial derivative), or in simplistic terms the concept that a solute will move from a region of high concentration to a region of low ...
Usually, convection occurs as a result of the diffusion process. The rate at which diffusion occurs depends on the state of the molecules: it occurs at a high rate in gases, a slower rate in liquids, and an even slower rate in solids. In gases, molecular diffusion is dependent on pressure and temperature.
Diffusion is of fundamental importance in many disciplines of physics, chemistry, and biology. Some example applications of diffusion: Sintering to produce solid materials (powder metallurgy, production of ceramics) Chemical reactor design; Catalyst design in chemical industry; Steel can be diffused (e.g., with carbon or nitrogen) to modify its ...
Surface diffusion is a general process involving the motion of adatoms, molecules, and atomic clusters (adparticles) at solid material surfaces. [1] The process can generally be thought of in terms of particles jumping between adjacent adsorption sites on a surface, as in figure 1.
E A is the activation energy for diffusion (in J/mol), T is the absolute temperature (in K), R ≈ 8.31446 J/(mol⋅K) is the universal gas constant. Diffusion in crystalline solids, termed lattice diffusion, is commonly regarded to occur by two distinct mechanisms, [3] interstitial and substitutional or vacancy diffusion.
In chemical physics, atomic diffusion is a diffusion process whereby the random, thermally-activated movement of atoms in a solid results in the net transport of atoms. For example, helium atoms inside a balloon can diffuse through the wall of the balloon and escape, resulting in the balloon slowly deflating.
Energy: the conduction of heat in a solid material is an example of heat diffusion. Momentum: the drag experienced by a rain drop as it falls in the atmosphere is an example of momentum diffusion (the rain drop loses momentum to the surrounding air through viscous stresses and decelerates).