TRANSPORT PHENOMENON

FICK’S LAW OF DIFFUSION

ATP-POWERED PUMPS
-II-

Yalçın İŞLER, PhD

Izmir Katip Celebi University
Department of Biomedical Engineering
[email protected]
 DIFFUSION
• Diffusion describes the spread of particles through
random motion from the regions of higher concentration
to the regions of lower concentration.
• After a period of time the particles are distributed
randomly.
• At the end of a certain period, the average travelled
distances by the particles will be zero.
– Because the number of particles moving in one direction is
almost equal to the number of particles moving in the
reverse direction
Diffusion

• The root mean square of the distances travelled by

particles is always a positive.

xrms  x 
 x 2

n
Diffusion
• After a period of time, particles reach such locations
along the motion axis that
– the graph of the number of particles and their
distances from the starting point gives a "GAUSS"
curve.

• N is the number of particles

between x and x+Δx
Diffusion

• In addition to diffusion particles there may be other

dissolved particles in the solution.
• In this case, the distribution rate of the particles,
(travelled distance per unit of time) will be changed.
• High energy particles will lead to scattering of the
low energy particles
Diffusion
The Boltzmann Equation describes the relationship
between the particles in gases and solutions.
• the number of particles (Ny) which have Ey energy and
• the number of particles (Nd) which have Ed energy

Ny (E y  E d )
ln 
Nd kT
k= Boltzmann constant = 1,38 x10-23 J/°K
T= absolute temperature (°K)
Diffusion
• The kinetic energy of a particle is:
• If this formula is written in Boltzmann Equation;
Ny ( mv y2  mvd2 )
ln 
Nd 2kT
will be obtained.
• If the low energy level Ed=0, then Vd=0.
Therefore, instead of Nd, N0 could be used and equation will be
as follows;
Ny mv y2
ln 
N0 2kT
 Diffusion
• This new equation is also a Gaussion function.
• Each vertical line in the graph, represents the ratio of the
number of the particles whose velocities are between v and
v+Δv and the number of stable particles.
Diffusion
• According to the kinetic theory of gases, there is a relationship
between the kinetic energy of a particle and the absolute
temperature of the system.
1 3
E  mv  kT
2
k= Boltzmann constant
2 2
• Because the movement has 3 dimension, velocity has 3
dimension (Vx, Vy, Vz).
• Therefore, the kinetic energy in one dimension is the 1/3 of
the total kinetic energy of the system
Diffusion
• The movement of particles (molecules or ions) in aqueous
solutions is more complex- than the movements of molecules in
gases. Because in these systems, particles are under the effect
of friction forces.
• Friction force is proportional to the particle velocity and has
opposite direction.
• For example, a particle which has Vx velocity in x-axis is under
the effect of the following friction force:

Fx   fVx f= Friction coefficient

Diffusion

• Friction coefficient for the spherical molecules is:

f  6r
 viscosity coefficient of the system

r radius of the molecule

Diffusion
• By the help of velocity, distance and energy
equations, the following formula will be obtained:
2kT
x 
2
t1
• This is the ‘random walk’f of particles in one
dimension.
• In 3 dimension the equation will be:

2kT 2kT 2kT 6kT

r x y z 
2 2 2 2
t1  t1  t1  t1
f f f f
Diffusion
kT kT
• Diffusion coefficient (D) D 
f 6r
• Diffusion coefficient (D) will vary depending on
– the absolute temperature,
– the viscosity of the medium
– size and shape of the particle
• ‘Random walk’ equations in 3 dimensions could be
written in terms of diffusion coefficient as follows:
x 2  2 Dt
s 2  4 Dt
r  6 Dt
2
Diffusion - Example

• Question:

How long will it take for a water molecule to diffuse

0.01 m in three dimensions?
– Diffusion coefficient of a water molecule in room
temperature is: D=2x10-9 m2/s
Diffusion - Example

• Soluton:
r  6Dt
2

(0.01) 2  6  2 10 9  t
4
10
t 8
 8333 second (2.31 hour)
1.2 10
Fick’s Law of Diffusion
• Because the particles in a solution move randomly,
the probability of movement in all directions is equal.
• If the molecules are highly concentrated in a region,
the number of molecules leaving the area will be
more than the number of the molecules arriving this
region.
• Thus, there will be a net flow of molecules from
highly concentrated region to the low concentrated
region. This phenomenon is called "diffusion".
 Flow of molecules in one dimension

Highly Low
concentrated concentrated
region region
A = Cross-section area of the pipe
Fick’s Law of Diffusion
c1 is the concentration in x1 and
c2 is the concentration in x2
A is the cross-section area of the pipe
Net amount of particle (Δm) which flow from x1 to
x2 in Δt time is:
m m
(Ac1  Ac2 ) or A(c1  c 2 )
t t
With a proportionality constant the equation will be:
m
 kA(c1  c 2 )  kAc
t
Fick’s Law of Diffusion
• If the x1 and x2 planes are too far apart from each other,
then the amount of flowing particles between these
planes will be very low.
• On the other hand, if these two planes are very close to
each other, then the amount of flowing particles will be
very high.
• Therefore, k constant in Fick’s Diffusion equation is
inversely proportional with (x2-x1)=Δx.
D k is referred to Fick's diffusion constant.
k D is the diffusion coefficient.
x
Fick’s Law of Diffusion
Put k equation in the place of the Fick’s Diffusion equation and:
m D c m 1 c
 kAc   Ac   DA   D
t x x t A x
c
J  D
x
J: Diffusion flux: the amount of substance per unit area per unit
time
Fick’s first law 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).
Fick’s Law of Diffusion

c  2c Fick's second law predicts how diffusion

D 2 causes the concentration to change with
t  x time

If the inial conditions are considered as;

all the particles being in position x = 0 at time t=0
and in time particles walk away in both directions
then the solution of the equation will be as follows;

1 x 2
c e 4 Dt
(4Dt) 0,5
Fick’s Law of Diffusion

(a) The Concentration and (b) The concentration gradient

change in time and with distance
 References
• Prof. Dr. Gürbüz Çelebi. Biyofizik. Tıp ve Diş Hekimliği Öğrencileri için. Barış Yayınları Fakülteler
Kitabevi, Cilt I, III.Baskı, İzmir, 2005.
• Prof. Dr. Ferit Pehlivan. Biyofizik. Hacettepe Taş. 4. Tıpkı Basım, Ankara, 2009.
• http://www.eng.utah.edu/~lzang/images/lecture-3.pdf
• http://www.eng.utah.edu/~lzang/images/lecture-4.pdf