name two processes that occur due to diffuion.
Answers
For example, oxygen is at a higher concentration inside arteries and arterioles, when compared with the oxygen levels in actively respiring cells. By the time blood flows into capillaries in the muscle or liver, for instance, there is only a single layer of cells separating this oxygen from hepatocytes or skeletal muscle fibers. Through a process of passive diffusion, without the active involvement of any other molecule oxygen passes through the capillary membrane and enters cells.
Cells utilize oxygen in the mitochondria for aerobic respiration, which generates carbon dioxide gas as a byproduct. Once again, as the concentration of this gas increases within the cell, it diffuses outwards towards capillaries where the force of flowing blood removes the excess gas from the tissue region. This way, the capillaries remain at a low carbon dioxide concentration, allowing the constant movement of the molecule away from cells.
This example also shows that the diffusion of any one material is independent of the diffusion of any other substances. When oxygen is moving towards tissues from capillaries, carbon dioxide is entering the bloodstream.
In chemical processes, diffusion is often the central principle driving many reactions. As a simple example, a few crystals of sugar in a glass of water will slowly dissolve over time. This occurs because there is a net movement of sugar molecules into the water medium. Even in large industrial reactions, when two liquids are mixed together, diffusion brings the reactants together and allows the reaction to proceed smoothly. For instance, one of the ways in which polyester is synthesized is by mixing the appropriate organic acid and alcohol in their liquid form. The reaction proceeds as the two reactants diffuse towards each other and undergo a chemical reaction to form esters.
➡Diffusion of oxygen and carbon dioxide gas occurs in the lungs.
➡Placing food coloring in a liquid will diffuse the color.