Question

What is the rate of diffusion affected by concentration ?

Answer 1

Greater the difference in concentration, faster the rate of diffusion and vice versa.

Explanation:

Diffusion is the movement of material from the area where they are in higher concentration to the area where they are in lower concentration without any expenditure of energy.

Now we can see from definition that it's the transport which basically occurs due to difference in concentrations of particles in two environments. If one area, suppose area `A` has much higher concentration of substances than other i.e area `B`. In this case, the substances or particles from area`A` will swiftly move to the area `B` which had lower concentration of them to achieve balance. This will form a steep concentration gradient. Hence, rate of diffusion will increase enormously.

Now, let's suppose, there is not much difference in the concentration of both areas. Area `A` has just little bit higher concentration than area `B`. So in this case, area `B` is not that deficient in concentration. Thus, particles or substances from area `A` don't need to move rapidly to area `B` in order to create a balance b/w two areas. So the rate of diffusion will be slower in this case.

Hope it helps!