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What does diffusion mean?

Definitions for diffusion
dɪˈfyu ʒəndif·fu·sion

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word diffusion.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. diffusionnoun

    (physics) the process in which there is movement of a substance from an area of high concentration of that substance to an area of lower concentration

  2. diffusionnoun

    the spread of social institutions (and myths and skills) from one society to another

  3. dissemination, diffusionnoun

    the property of being diffused or dispersed

  4. dispersion, dispersal, dissemination, diffusionnoun

    the act of dispersing or diffusing something

    "the dispersion of the troops"; "the diffusion of knowledge"

Wiktionary

  1. diffusionnoun

    the act of diffusing or dispersing something, or the property of being diffused or dispersed; dispersion

  2. diffusionnoun

    the scattering of light by reflection from a rough surface, or by passage through a translucent medium

  3. diffusionnoun

    the intermingling of the molecules of a fluid due to random thermal agitation

  4. diffusionnoun

    the spread of cultural or linguistic practices, or social institutions, in one or more communities

  5. diffusionnoun

    Exchange of airborne media between regions in space in an apparently random motion of a small scale.

  6. diffusionnoun

    the movement of water vapor from regions of high concentration (high water vapor pressure) toward regions of lower concentration.

  7. Etymology: From diffusionem (accusative of diffusio), from verb diffundere.

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. Diffusionnoun

    Etymology: from diffuse.

    Whereas all bodies act either by the communication of their natures, or by the impressions and signatures of their motions, the diffusion of species visible seemeth to participate more of the former operation, and the species audible of the latter. Francis Bacon, Natural History, №. 269.

    A sheet of very well sleeked marbled paper did not cast distinct colours upon the wall, nor throw its light with an equal diffusion; but threw its beams, unstained and bright, to this and that part of the wall. Robert Boyle, on Colours.

Wikipedia

  1. Diffusion

    Diffusion is the net movement of anything (for example, atoms, ions, molecules, energy) generally from a region of higher concentration to a region of lower concentration. Diffusion is driven by a gradient in Gibbs free energy or chemical potential. It is possible to diffuse "uphill" from a region of lower concentration to a region of higher concentration, like in spinodal decomposition. The concept of diffusion is widely used in many fields, including physics (particle diffusion), chemistry, biology, sociology, economics, and finance (diffusion of people, ideas, and price values). The central idea of diffusion, however, is common to all of these: a substance or collection undergoing diffusion spreads out from a point or location at which there is a higher concentration of that substance or collection. A gradient is the change in the value of a quantity, for example, concentration, pressure, or temperature with the change in another variable, usually distance. 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 called a temperature gradient. The word diffusion derives from the Latin word, diffundere, which means "to spread out." A distinguishing feature of diffusion is that it depends on particle random walk, and results in mixing or mass transport without requiring directed bulk motion. Bulk motion, or bulk flow, is the characteristic of advection. The term convection is used to describe the combination of both transport phenomena. If a diffusion process can be described by Fick's laws, it's called a normal diffusion (or Fickian diffusion); Otherwise, it's called an anomalous diffusion (or non-Fickian diffusion).

ChatGPT

  1. diffusion

    Diffusion is a physical process in which particles of gases, liquids, or solids intermingle as a result of their spontaneous movement caused by thermal agitation and in dissolved substances move from a region of higher concentration to a region of lower concentration. The process continues until a uniform concentration is achieved throughout.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Diffusionnoun

    the act of diffusing, or the state of being diffused; a spreading; extension; dissemination; circulation; dispersion

  2. Diffusionnoun

    the act of passing by osmosis through animal membranes, as in the distribution of poisons, gases, etc., through the body. Unlike absorption, diffusion may go on after death, that is, after the blood ceases to circulate

U.S. National Library of Medicine

  1. Diffusion

    The tendency of a gas or solute to pass from a point of higher pressure or concentration to a point of lower pressure or concentration and to distribute itself throughout the available space. Diffusion, especially FACILITATED DIFFUSION, is a major mechanism of BIOLOGICAL TRANSPORT.

The Standard Electrical Dictionary

  1. Diffusion

    A term properly applied to the varying current density found in conductors of unequal cross sectional area. In electro-therapeutics it is applied to the distribution of current as it passes through the human body. Its density per cross-sectional area varies with the area and with the other factors.

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Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of diffusion in Chaldean Numerology is: 7

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of diffusion in Pythagorean Numerology is: 4

Examples of diffusion in a Sentence

  1. Daniel J. Boorstin:

    Knowledge is not simply another commodity. On the contrary. Knowledge is never used up. It increases by diffusion and grows by dispersion.

  2. Jeff Navin:

    Some of the biggest national security questions facing the country run through Piketon and Kemmerer, a Post-Soviet dealAmerican reliance on foreign enriched uranium echoes its competitive disadvantages on microchips and the critical minerals used to make electric batteries — two essential components of the global energy transition.But in the case of uranium enrichment, United States once had an advantage and chose to give it up.In the 1950s, as the nuclear era began in earnest, Piketon became the site of one of two enormous enrichment facilities in the Ohio River Valley region, where a process called gaseous diffusion was used.Meanwhile, the Soviet Union developed centrifuges in a secret program, relying on a team of German physicists and engineers captured toward the end of World War II. Its centrifuges proved to be 20 times as energy efficient as gaseous diffusion. By the end of the Cold War, United States and Russia had roughly equal enrichment capacities, but huge differences in the cost of production.In 1993, Washington and Moscow signed an agreement, dubbed Megatons to Megawatts, in which United States purchased and imported much of Russia’s enormous glut of weapons-grade uranium, which United States then downgraded to use in power plants. This provided the U.S. with cheap fuel and Moscow with cash, and was seen as a de-escalatory gesture.But it also destroyed the profitability of America’s inefficient enrichment facilities, which were eventually shuttered. Then, instead of investing in upgraded centrifuges in United States, successive administrations kept buying from Russia.ImageA mural celebrates Piketon’s gaseous diffusion plant, long ago shuttered, and United States role in the local economy.Credit... Brian Kaiser for The New York TimesImageIn the lobby at Piketon plant, a miniature display of new centrifuges.Credit... Brian Kaiser for The New York TimesThe centrifuge plant in Piketon, operated by Centrus Energy, occupies a corner of the site of the old gaseous diffusion facility. Building United States to United States full potential would create thousands of jobs, according to Centrus Energy. And it could produce the kinds of enriched uranium needed in both current and new-age nuclear plants.Lacking Piketon’s output, plants like TerraPower’s would have to look to foreign producers, like France, that might be a more politically acceptable and reliable supplier than Russia, but would also be more expensive.TerraPower sees itself as integral to phasing out climate-warming fossil fuels in electricity. Its reactor would include a sodium-based battery that would allow the plant to ramp up electricity production on demand, offsetting fluctuations in wind or solar production elsewhere.It is part of the energy transition that coal-country senators like Mr. Manchin and John Barrasso, a Wyoming Republican, are keen to fix as they eye nuclear replacements for lost coal jobs and revenue. While Mr. Manchin in particular has complicated the Biden administration’s efforts to quicken the transition away from fossil fuels, he also pushed back against colleagues, mostly Democrats, who are skeptical of nuclear power’s role in that transition, partly because of the radioactive waste it creates.

  3. Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve:

    Everyone agrees now that legislation that prevents the diffusion of child pornography is protecting citizens from crime. It is the same for terrorism, calling for anti-Semitism, calling for crimes, calling for murder, calling for the killing of Jews or journalists — that's not about freedom of expression. That is a criminal act.

  4. David Altman:

    There is a threat of contagion, of diffusion, of these authoritarian trends, it's a profound concern.

  5. Khalid AbuLeif:

    With a concept like zero emissions and 'let's knock fossil fuels out of the picture', without clear technology diffusion and international cooperation program, you are really not helping the process.

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"diffusion." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 23 Dec. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/diffusion>.

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