What are real-life examples of diffusion?

Diffusion can be observed in everyday life in instances such as perfume spreading in a room, tea steeping, or smoke dispersing.

Diffusion is a process that explains how particles spread out from an area of high concentration to an area of low concentration. It's a fundamental concept in the study of natural phenomena and it's happening all around us. For instance, when you spray perfume in one part of a room, after a while, the scent spreads throughout the entire room. This is because the perfume particles move from an area of high concentration (where the perfume was sprayed) to areas of lower concentration (the rest of the room).

Another common example of diffusion is the steeping of tea. When you place a tea bag into a cup of hot water, the tea leaves are initially in a high concentration within the bag. As time passes, the tea particles spread out into the water, which is an area of lower concentration. This process continues until the concentration of tea is the same throughout the cup, resulting in a uniformly brewed cup of tea.

Smoke dispersing in the air is also a demonstration of diffusion. When something is burning, the smoke particles are in a high concentration around the fire. These particles then spread out into the air, which is an area of lower concentration. This is why you can smell smoke from a distance away from the fire.

In all these examples, the particles move from an area of high concentration to an area of low concentration, which is the essence of diffusion. It's a natural, passive process that doesn't require any energy input, and it's crucial for many biological and chemical processes.