What is Diffusion?

Diffusion is a process that happens when something spreads out or moves from an area of high concentration to an area of low concentration. It’s like when you drop a drop of food coloring into a glass of water and watch it slowly spread throughout the water.

Imagine you have a room filled with balloons. At first, all the balloons are gathered in one corner of the room. If you open the door, the balloons will start to move and spread out into the rest of the room. This is similar to how diffusion works.

Diffusion can happen with different things, not just balloons or food coloring. It can also happen with smells, like when you bake cookies and the delicious smell fills the whole house. The scent molecules from the cookies move through the air and reach your nose, allowing you to smell them.
In our bodies, diffusion is an important process that helps with things like breathing and digestion.

For example, when we breathe in, the oxygen we need for our bodies moves from our lungs into our blood through diffusion. It spreads from an area of high oxygen concentration in the lungs to an area of low oxygen concentration in the blood.

Diffusion is happening all around us, even if we can’t see it. It’s a natural process that helps things mix and spread out. So next time you see something spreading or moving from one place to another, remember that it might be the result of diffusion at work!