This article is about the generic concept of the time-dependent process.

For other uses, see

Diffusion (disambiguation).

A diffusion process in science. Some particles are dissolved in a glass of water. At first, the
particles are all near one corner of the glass. If the particles all randomly move around
("diffuse") in the water, then the particles will eventually become distributed randomly and
uniformly, and organized (but diffusion will still continue to occur, just that there will be no
net flux).
Play media
Time lapse video of diffusion of a dye dissolved in water into a gel.

3D rendering of diffusion of purple dye in water.

Diffusion is the net movement of a substance (e.g., an atom, ion or molecule) from a region
of high concentration to a region of low concentration. This is also referred to as the
movement of a substance down a concentration gradient. A gradient is the change in the value
of a quantity (e.g., concentration, pressure, temperature) with the change in another variable
(e.g., distance). For example, a change in concentration over a distance is called a
concentration gradient, a change in pressure over a distance is called a pressure gradient, and
a change in temperature over a distance is a called a temperature gradient.
The word diffusion is derived from the Latin word, "diffundere", which means "to spread
out" (if a substance is spreading out, it is moving from an area of high concentration to an
area of low concentration). A distinguishing feature of diffusion is that it results in mixing or
mass transport, without requiring bulk motion (bulk flow). Thus, diffusion should not be
confused with convection, or advection, which are other transport phenomena that utilize
bulk motion to move particles from one place to another.