Fick’s Law of Diffusion

Imaicela Gloria, Calderón Luis , Romero Henry, Criollo Erick ,Trujillo Willam
Laboratory of Transport Phenomena II, School of Chemistry and Engineering,
Yachay University, Urcuquí - Ecuador
March 19th, 2019 - April 9th, 2019

Abstract
The following practice has the purpose of using the acquired knowledge about Fick's
Diffusivity, the methods and calculations necessary for the use of the equations of Fick's law.
The experiment is based on a fragment of potassium permanganate which, when dropped in
the center of a Petri dish with water, shows the advance of diffusion thanks to a sheet placed
below with the marked measurements. Based on these observations, the equations will be
used to determine the diffusivity constant of Fick.

Introduction
Diffusion is the migration of molecules
from a region of high concentration to a
region of lower concentration and is a
result of the Brownian movement of the
solute molecules. The migration of solute
molecules in the absence of external forces
such as movement of the solution by
convection gradients is a measure of the
escaping tendency of the solute to achieve
an equilibrium state (Jain & Sony, 2012).
The equations governing diffusion
processes are Fick’s laws.
The Fick’s first law consider the flux of
diffusing particles in one dimension (x
directions) illustrated in Fig 1. The
particles can be atoms, molecules, or ions,
and can be written as
:
Here Jx is the diffusion flux and C their
concentration. The negative sign in the
equation indicates opposite directions of
diffusion flux and concentration gradient.
The factor of proportionality, D, is denoted
as the diffusion coefficient. The diffusion
flux is expressed in number of moles (M)
traversing a unit area (A=2πrh) per unit
time (t) and can be written as:
𝑀
𝐽=
𝐴∗𝑡
The concentration (C) in number of
particles per unit volume, Thus the
diffusivity D has the dimension of
length^2 per time and bears the units
[cm^2 s^-1] or [m^2 s^-1]. (Mehrer, 2007)
 Exp 1 Exp 2 Exp 3 Exp 4 Exp 5

Time Rad Rad Rad Rad Rad

(s) (cm) (cm) (cm) (cm) (cm)
0 0.2 0.1 0.2 0.8 0.5
15 0.8 0.8 1 1.2 0.9
30 1.1 1 1.1 1.5 1.1
45 1.3 1.2 1.2 1.6 1.3
60 1.4 1.3 1.3 1.8 1.5
75 1.5 1.45 1.45 1.9 1.7
90 1.6 1.6 1.5 2.3 1.8
Fig 1. Illustration of Fick’s first law. 105 1.7 1.8 1.8 2.5 2
120 1.8 1.85 1.85 2.8 2.2
135 1.9 1.95 2 3 2.3
Experimental procedure
150 1.95 2.1 2.1 3.1 2.4
A Cartesian plane was plotted on a grid 165 2 2.2 2.3 3.2 2.5
sheet in order to perform measurements on 180 2.1 2.3 2.4 3.4 2.6
195 2.2 2.4 2.45 3.5 2.7
the axes. Water was added to the Petri dish
210 2.25 2.45 2.5 - -
and the plate was centered in the center of 225 2.3 - 2.6 - -
the Cartesian plane. 0.02 g of KMnO4 240 2.4 - - - -
255 2.45 - - - -
glass was weighed and placed in the center
270 2.5 - - - -
of the Petri dish. The KMnO4 crystals
were placed in the center of the plate and Tabla 1 Experimental data of time and
diffusivity radius of the KMnO4
the time was counted since the glass
touched the water. The stopwatch would Results and discussion
stop at the moment when there was no To observe the diffusivity phenomena, 5

more diffusion or when the broadcast has experiments were carried out, of which 3

already touched one side of the plate. experiments were at ambient conditions

Because the glass was completely while the 2 remaining experiments were

dissolved, the weight of the glass was not subjected to a temperature of 50 ° C. To

measured again. The procedure was determine the diffusion flux and diffusion

performed 3 times to obtain the mean coefficient, we carry out a series of

deviation of the tests. Finally, the calculations for which we use the

corresponding calculations were made to following formulas:

obtain the diffusion coefficient of KMnO4 To determine de diffusion flux we need to

in the water. know the area over which diffusivity was

carried out, the time (t) and mass (M) used
of KMnO4.
 𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎𝐶𝑦𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟 = 𝜋𝑟 2
𝑀 𝐾𝑔 𝑀
𝐽 = 𝐴∗𝑡 (𝑚2∗𝑠 ) 𝐶= , 𝑉 = 𝐴∗ℎ
𝑉

To determine de diffusion coefficient we 𝐽∗ 𝑥 𝑚2

𝐷= ( )
need the concentration of KMnO4 and the 𝐶 𝑠

length of diffusivity Tabla 1 , then we The Thickness of water has a height h = 4

calculated the concentration with the mass mm and a diameter of petri dishes D = 9
(M) of KMnO4 and volume of petri cm.
dishes. Using the following equations:

Exp 1 Exp 2 Exp 3

Time (s) 240 220 213

Mass KMnO4 (g) 0.02 0.02 0.02

Mass of H2O (g) 15.36 17.2 16.28

Radius (m) 0.035 0.037 0.036

Thickness of H20 (m) 0.004 0.004 0.004

Area (m^2) 0.00384 0.0043 0.00407

V (m^3) 1.536E-05 1.72E-05 1.628E-05

J ((kg/m^2*s) 2.170E-05 2.114E-05 2.307E-05

J (average) 2.197E-05

C(kg/m^3) 1.302 1.16 1.229

D (m^2/s) 4.167E-07 4.465E-07 4.881E-07

D(average) 4.502 E-07

Tabla 2 Mass of H2O and KMnO4 and thickness of H2O, area and volume of the petri dishes .
Diffusion flow, diffusion coefficient and standard deviation at ambient conditions T= 23°C
 the same distance but needed more time,
Exp 4 Exp 5
which means that at higher concentration
Time (s) 193 268
there is less diffusion time .The value of
Mass 0.02 0.02
the diffusivity coefficient of this
KMnO4 (g)
experiment indicates that in this
Mass of H2O 15.36 14.52
(g) experiment the KMnO4 was easier to
move in the water.
Radius (m) 0.035 0.034
As for the experiments that were submitted
Thickness of 0.004 0.004g
to 50 ° C we observed that on average they
H20 (m)
have values more approximate than those
Area (m^2) 0.00384 0.00363
of 23 ° C, this means that the temperature
V (m^3) 1.536E-05 1.452E-05
tends to increase the diffusion activity in
J 2.699E-05 2.056E-05 the molecules.
((kg/m^2*s)

J (average) 2.378E-05 Conclusion

C(kg/m^3) 1.302 1.377 In conclusion, the radius of the diffusive

D (m^2/s) 7.255E-07 4.031E-07
5.666E-07
D (average)
Tabla 3 Mass of H2O and KMnO4 and
thickness of H2O, area and volume of the petri
dishes . Diffusion flow, diffusion coefficient
and standard deviation at T= 50°C
After having performed the calculations
of the diffusion coefficient for each
experiment and knowing that the
theoretical value of diffusion coefficient of
KMnO4. in water is 5.5E-07 𝑚2 /𝑠.
In environmental conditions we observe
that the experiment 3 has greater proximity
to the theoretical value , the result is
consistent because at 210 seconds and
with a higher concentration than the
others, it had a greater distance of travel
than the other experiments that traveled
expansion is related to the variation with
of time, demonstrating the dependence on
concentration. On the other hand, our
results varied because the sample did not
fall precisely in the center. To improve the
experimental conditions, we can use better
lighting to observe the diffusion in a better
way. Diffusion is understood as the
process by which molecules intermingle,
as a consequence of the random movement
that drives their kinetic energy.
The experiment allows analyzing and
better understanding the diffusion process
and performing the relevant calculations.
We determined the diffusion of KMnO4 in
water by means of a simple experiment
that consisted of placing KMnO4 in water
that was in a Petri dish, we observed and
measured how it diffused in the water, the
experiment was quite graphic due to the diffusion-controlled processes (Vol. 155).
use of graph paper we observe clearly the Springer Science & Business Media.
diffusion of the reagent, by means of the
calculations we determine the diffusion.
Our average result was: DKMnO4-H2O =
5.666E-07 m2 / s; We look for the value
of the diffusion coefficient, which is 5.5
m2 / s. The theoretical values agree with
those obtained experimentally. The
tendency to diffusion is very strong even at
room temperature, due to the high
molecular speeds associated with the
thermal energy possessed by the particles.

Bibliography
[1] Jain, S. K., & Soni, V. (2012).
Bentley's Textbook of Pharmaceutics-E-
Book. Elsevier Health Sciences.

[2] Mehrer, H. (2007). Diffusion in

solids: fundamentals, methods, materials,
diffusion-controlled processes (Vol. 155).
Springer Science & Business Media.