How do machines make our

life better?

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Contents

Diffusion

What is diffusion?

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 Smells and liquids spreading out
Why can you smell cooked
food from a distance?

Why does the colour of

concentrated fruit drink change
when it is added to water?

Why can you smell

perfume or aftershave
when someone walks
past you?

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 Smells and liquids spreading out
Smelling cooked food or perfume and diluting juice in water
all involve things moving around and spreading out.

These processes are all examples of diffusion.

Diffusion involves the movement of molecules.

What type of molecules are moving in these examples?

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 Moving molecules
The molecules in every substance are always moving.
In which state are molecules able to spread out?

ice (solid) water (liquid) water vapour (gas)

Diffusion involves the movement of gas and dissolved

molecules. Why don’t solid molecules diffuse?

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 Diffusion and changing concentrations
When smelling body spray where is the smell strongest
and where is the smell weakest?

Diffusion means the smell

spreads out and gets weaker
further away from the source.

Smell is strongest
at source.

How does the concentration of smell molecules change

during diffusion?
Smell molecules move from an area of high concentration
to an area of lower concentration. This is called a
concentration gradient.
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 Changing concentrations
Diffusion can be represented on a simple diagram.
Where will the molecules be after diffusion?
before diffusion after diffusion

What has happened to the concentration of the molecules?

Diffusion is the movement of gas or dissolved molecules
from higher to lower concentration.
Molecules diffuse down a concentration gradient.
What does this mean?
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 Contents

Diffusion

Diffusion and life processes

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 Why is diffusion so important?
Diffusion explains why you can smell smelly smells and
what happens when you dilute a concentrated fruit drink.
More importantly, diffusion is an essential process
that is going on inside your body right now and
keeping you alive!
Diffusion occurs in the organ systems that control your
breathing, circulation, digestion and other life
processes.

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 Diffusion and life processes
Diffusion is the movement of gas or dissolved molecules.
What gas and dissolved
molecules do body cells need?
Your body’s survival depends
on oxygen and dissolved food
molecules getting into your cells.
How do these vital substances cross boundaries
within the body to get to where they are needed?
Oxygen and dissolved food molecules
must diffuse into and out of the blood
for transportation around the body.
Where does diffusion take place within the body?

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 Diffusion and breathing
Breathing involves the exchange of
gases in the lungs, a process which
occurs by diffusion.
What is the vital gas that
you breathe in?
oxygen
What is the waste gas that
you breathe out?
carbon dioxide
The lungs have a huge surface area to maximize the
exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide with each breath.
Where in the lungs does gas exchange take place?
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 Diffusion and breathing – oxygen
Inhaling increases the concentration of oxygen molecules
in an alveolus.
At this point, how does this compare with the concentration
of oxygen in deoxygenated blood in the capillary?
When you deoxygenated blood
inhale, from the body
the
concentration oxygen
of oxygen inside into alveoli
each alveolus is
higher than in
deoxygenated
blood. oxygenated blood
to the body

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 Diffusion and breathing – oxygen
How is the concentration of oxygen in the blood increased?
Oxygen molecules diffuse across the lining of the alveolus
into the blood in the capillary, moving from higher to lower
concentration.

When you inhale, diffusion deoxygenated blood

from the body
the concentration
of oxygen inside
each alveolus is oxygen
into alveoli
higher than in
deoxygenated
blood.

oxygenated blood
to the body

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 Diffusion and breathing – carbon dioxide
Deoxygenated blood from the body is low in oxygen
but has high levels of carbon dioxide.
How does this compare with concentration of carbon dioxide
in the alveolus?
deoxygenated blood
The from the body
concentration
of carbon dioxide
in deoxygenated
blood is higher
than in
deoxygenated
blood.
oxygenated blood
to the body

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 Diffusion and breathing – carbon dioxide
How is the concentration of carbon dioxide in the blood
reduced?
Carbon dioxide molecules diffuse from the blood in the
capillary into the alveolus, moving from higher to lower
concentration.
diffusion deoxygenated blood
The from the body
concentration
of carbon dioxide carbon
in deoxygenated dioxide
out of alveoli
blood is higher
than in
deoxygenated
blood.
oxygenated blood
to the body

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 Diffusion and digestion
Carbohydrates, proteins and fat are made up of large
molecules that cannot be used directly by the body.
Digestion breaks large food
molecules into smaller molecules
that can be used by the body.

Dissolved food molecules

then need to be transported
from the small intestine into
the bloodstream.

Where in the small intestine does

this diffusion take place?

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 Diffusion from the small intestine
Each villus has a surface layer that is one cell thick.
How does the concentration of dissolved food molecules in
the small intestine compare with the blood entering a villus?
The concentration of
dissolved food inside the
molecules small intestine
is higher in the small
intestine than in the
blood entering the
villus.
blood
entering
villus blood
leaving
wall of small villus
intestine
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 Diffusion from the small intestine
How is the concentration of dissolved food molecules in the
blood increased?
Dissolved food molecules diffuse from the small intestine
into the blood, moving from higher to lower concentration.
The concentration of
dissolved food inside the
molecules small intestine
is higher in the small
intestine than in the diffusion
blood entering the
villus.
blood
entering
villus blood
leaving
wall of small villus
intestine
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 Diffusion in and out of cells
Oxygen and dissolved food molecules are transported to
the body’s cells in the bloodstream.
How does the concentration of these useful substances in
the blood compare with the concentration inside the cells?
The concentration of
oxygen and dissolved
food molecules
is higher in the blood
arriving at the cells
than inside the cells.

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 Diffusion in and out of cells
How do oxygen and dissolved food molecules pass
from the blood into the cells?
Oxygen and dissolved food molecules diffuse into the
body cells, moving from higher to lower concentration.
The concentration of
diffusion oxygen and dissolved
food molecules
is higher in the blood
arriving at the cells
than inside the cells.

What process involving

these useful substances
takes place inside the cell?

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 Diffusion in and out of cells
The cells use the food and oxygen for respiration.
Carbon dioxide is the waste product of respiration and
will poison a cell if it is not removed. How is it removed?

diffusion Carbon dioxide molecules

diffuse from the cells into
the bloodstream, moving
from higher to lower
concentration.
How is this waste carbon
dioxide removed from the
body?

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