Chemistry › States of matter › Diffusion

Age level:  11-13

Questions

1. The particles in blue gas A are twice as heavy as the particles in red gas B.
   a If gas A was pumped into one jar and gas B was pumped into another jar, would each gas spread through the jar at the same rate? Explain.
   b Draw time-lapse diagrams of what you would expect to see if the two gases were pumped into the same container from different ends.
   
   
2. Why would gases diffuse faster on a warm day than on a cold day?
   
   
3. a What is diffusion?
   b List four examples of diffusion that occur around you every day.
   
   
4. a Which do you think would diffuse more rapidly: the particles of a gas or the particles of a liquid? Use the particle model of matter to explain your answer.
   b Why can you can smell food being cooked on a barbecue from a long way away?
   c Spices are often used to improve the flavour of food. How is this possible?
   
   
5. What do you observe about the test-tubes in these photos? Try to explain your observations by describing what happens to the particles in the colourless jelly and the coloured jelly.

   
   
   

   
   
   

Answers