INTRODUCTION

Diffusion describes the spread of particles through random motion from regions of higher concentration to regions of lower
concentration. The time dependence of the statistical distribution in space is given by the diffusion equation . The concept of
diffusion is tied to that of mass transfer driven by a concentration gradient, but diffusion can still occur when there is no
concentration gradient (but there will be no net flux). If two gases are inter diffusing with continual supply of fresh gas and
removal of the products of diffusion, this diffusion reaches an equilibrium state with constant concentration gradients. This is
known as steady state diffusion. If also there is no total flow in either direction the rates of diffusion of A and B , NA and NB
are equal but have opposite sign.

In terms of concentration terms the expression for D is:

..........................(1)

...............................(2)

Where :

CA = Molar concentration of A

CB = Molar concentration of B

CT = Total molar concentration

x = Final height from top end of the tube after time t

x0 = Initial height from top end of the tube

x- x0 = Drop in liquid (carbon tetrachloride) level in time t

Usually x0 will not be measured accurately nor is the effective distance for diffusion x ,at time t . Accurate
value of (x- x0) are available, however and hence:

Rewriting equation 1 as :
A graph between t/(x- x0) against (x- x0) should yield a straight line with slope

Diffusion co-efficient

PROCEDURE

1. Set the water bath temperature at desired level (25 0C- 50 0C) and wait till the bath attains the set
temperature.
2. Fill the T- tube with carbon tetrachloride to within two centimeters of the top of Capillary leg . Note
down the initial diffusion height of the liquid in the capillary from the top end (x0).
3. Make the connection with the air or vacuum pump and allow a gentle current of air to flow over the
capillary.
4. Record the height of liquid (x) from the top of the capillary tube after every 30 mins.
5. Repeat the steps 1 to 4 Un grfico entre t / (x - x0) contra (x - x0) debe producir una recta con
pendiente for different temperatures.
6. Plot diffusion co-efficient against absolute temperature on a log - log graph and determine the slope.
It should lie between 1.5 to 1.8.

SETUP DESCRIPTION

The main components of the experimental setup are

1. Glass T- Tube
2. Constant temperature water bath
3. Air pump
4. Travelling Microscope
5. Volatile components is filled in the T- tube and air passed over it by the pump and change in the level
is seen by the sliding microscope.
 EXPERIMENTAL SETUP

LEVEL OF LEVEL OF
CARBON CARBON
TETRACHLORIDE TETRACHLORIDE
AT T=0 AT T=6 HRS

SAMPLE CALCULATION

OBSERVATION TABLE - IN AIR AT 328K

Now we plot a graph between (x-x0) and time/(x-x0)

(x-x0) vs time/(x-x0) plot

Then for the data above we have the least square equation as :
y = 26.17x + 1159
From the graph slope S is = 2.617*10^7 sec/m^2
Operating temperature T = 328K
Vapor pressure or carbon tetrachloride can be obtained from the equation :

Where T is in K and vapor pressure is in Pascal.

For carbon tetrachloride : C1=78.441 , C2=-6128.1 , C3=-8.5766 , C4=6.8465*10(-6) , C5=2
With these values of constants we have the vapor pressure to be 49512.55 pascal =49.512 kN/m2

SAMPLE CALCULATION

OBSERVATION TABLE - IN AIR AT 328K

Now we plot a graph between (x-x0) and time/(x-x0)

Then for the data above we have the least square equation as :

y = 26.17x + 1159

From the graph slope S is = 2.617*10^7 sec/m^2

Operating temperature T = 328K

Vapor pressure or carbon tetrachloride can be obtained from the equation :

Vapor pressure or carbon tetrachloride can be obtained from the equation :

Where T is in K and vapor pressure is in Pascal.

For carbon tetrachloride : C1=78.441 , C2=-6128.1 , C3=-8.5766 , C4=6.8465*10(-6) , C5=2

With these values of constants we have the vapor pressure to be 49512.55 pascal =49.512 kN/m 2

Total pressure P = 101.32 kN/m2

Kilogram molecular volume of a gas = 22.4 m3 at 273.15 K

Molecular weight of carbon tetrachloride = 154 kg/mol

Density of carbon tetrachloride at 321K = 1540 kg/ m3

Total concentration

Total concentration

=.03716kmol/m^3

Concentration of carbon tetrachloride

=.01816 kmol/m3

= .0372kmol/m3
=.01902 kmol/m3

=.0271 kmol/m3

Diffusion co-efficient

=7.67*10(-6) m2/sec

Similarly repeating the experiments at different temperature we get different values for diffusion co-
efficient.Thus it is seen that the diffusion coefficient is a function of time and it increases with increase in
temperature.

Plot a T vs D*P on a log - log plot.

Finally from the plot we have

where b is a parameter that denotes temperature dependence and theoritically it should lie between 1.5 to
1.8

LABVIEW CALCULATIONS :

(Note : In the snapshots all the boxes with a green background designates inputs/measurements
,with a blue background designates virtual data )
STEP 1 : In this step the user has to first select a suitable value for temperature and accordingly he/she has
to calculate the vapor pressure and concentrations using the mentioned formulas.

STEP 2 : In this step six sets of virtual experiments are carried on at different operating conditions.Here the
input is time,initial main scale reading and the vernier scale reading.Time ought to be varied after every run
whereas the scale reading should be kept constant .Virtually we get the actual scale readings for the input
time

.
STEP 3: After the virtual experiment is done , the user has to calculate the slope and the diffusion co-effecient
using the virtual data and suitable graphs and then has to enter those values in the space provided.
STEP 4 : This step is basically meant for comparison.All the virtual data including the final virtual diffusion co-
effecient data will be shown.The user has to enter his diffusion co-effecient values and then compare that with
the virtual data .
STEP 5 : This step is the concluding step which gives us the possible reasons of deviation from the actual data.