Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Tracer diffusion and Self-diffusion, which is a spontaneous mixing of molecules taking place in the absence of concentration (or chemical potential) gradient. This type of diffusion can be followed using isotopic tracers, hence the name. The tracer diffusion is usually assumed to be identical to self-diffusion (assuming no significant isotopic ...
Diffusion is the net movement of anything (for example, atoms, ions, molecules, energy) generally from a region of higher concentration to a region of lower concentration. Diffusion is driven by a gradient in Gibbs free energy or chemical potential .
Early research in the 19th and 20th centuries on osmosis and diffusion provided the foundation for understanding the passive movement of molecules across cell membranes. [ 10 ] In 1855, the physiologist Adolf Fick was the first to define osmosis and simple diffusion as the tendency for solutes to move from a region of higher concentration to a ...
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 ...
Facilitated diffusion in the cell membrane, showing ion channels (left) and carrier proteins (three on the right). Facilitated diffusion is the passage of molecules or ions across a biological membrane through specific transport proteins and requires no energy input. Facilitated diffusion is used especially in the case of large polar molecules ...
One example of passive diffusion is the gas exchange that occurs between the oxygen in the blood and the carbon dioxide present in the lungs. [3] Facilitated diffusion is the movement of polar molecules down the concentration gradient with the assistance of membrane proteins. Since the molecules associated with facilitated diffusion are polar ...
Passive diffusion across a cell membrane.. Passive transport is a type of membrane transport that does not require energy to move substances across cell membranes. [1] [2] Instead of using cellular energy, like active transport, [3] passive transport relies on the second law of thermodynamics to drive the movement of substances across cell membranes.
These proteins have receptors that bind to specific molecules (e.g., glucose) and transport them across the cell membrane. Because energy is required in this process, it is known as 'active' transport. Examples of active transport include the transportation of sodium out of the cell and potassium into the cell