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Discuss factors that affect the rates of diffusion in living organisms.

Discuss factors that affect the rates of diffusion in living organisms.

Answers

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- Diffusion gradient which refers to the difference in concentration of molecules between the region of high concentration and the region of low concentration. Increasing the concentration gradient causes an increase in rate of diffusion and vice versa.
A great diffusion gradient between two points increases the rate of diffusion. Increasing diffusing molecules increases the diffusion gradient between corresponding regions thus increasing the rate of diffusion. A low diffusion gradient on the other hand decreases the rate of diffusion.

-Surface area to volume ratio .is the ratio of total surface area exposed by an organism compared to its body volume. Small sized living organisms have a large surface area to volume ratio. The larger the surface area to volume ratio ,the high the rate of diffusion and vice versa. Small organisms like amoeba and paramecium can hence rely on diffusion for transport of substances into and within its body and removal of waste products

- Thickness of membranes. Molecules take longer to diffuse across thick membranes than across thin membranes hence the thin the membrane the higher the rate of diffusion.

-Temperature. Increasing temperature increases the kinetic energy of diffusing molecules making them
to spread faster. Increasing temperature increases the rate of diffusion and vice versa

-Size of molecules/molecular weight.Small sized molecules/molecules of low molecular weight move/diffuse faster hence the rate of diffusion is high where the molecules involved are small or have low molecular weight and vice versa.
simiyu kelly answered the question on September 15, 2017 at 12:14

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Next: a) What is active transport? (b) State the factors affecting active transport(c) Why is oxygen important in the process of active transport?

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