《Physical Chemistry 7ed 物理化学（第七版）》教师用书 Peter Atkins-Julio de Paula -Instructors Solution Manual-Chap24.pdf

Part 3: Change 24 Molecules in motion Solutions to exercises Discussion questions E24.1(b) Diffusion is the migration of particles (molecules) down a concentration gradient. Diffusion can be interpreted at the molecular level as being the result of the random jostling of the molecules in a fluid. The motion of the molecules is the result of a series of short jumps in random directions, a so-called random walk. In the random walk model of diffusion, although a molecule may take many steps in a given time, it has only a small probability of being found far from its starting point because some of the steps lead it away from the starting point but others lead it back. As a result, the net distance traveled increases only as the square root of the time. There is no net flow of molecules unless there is a concentration gradient in the fluid, alse there are just as many molecules moving in one direction as another. The rate at which the molecules spread out is proportional to the concentration gradient. The constant of proportionality is called the diffusion coefficient. On the molecular level in a gas, thermal conduction occurs because of random molecular motions in the presence of a temperature gradient. Across any plane in the gas, there is a net flux of energy from the high temperature side, because molecules coming from that side carry a higher average energy per molecule across the plane than those coming from the low temperature side. In solids, the situation is more complex as energy transport occurs through quantized elastic waves (phonons) and, in metals, also by electrons. Conduction in liquids can occur by all the mechanisms mentioned. At the mol