What environmental factors affect kinetic energy and diffusion?

Question

aaronq · Answer

temperature, concentration..

anonymous · Answer

by concentration do you mean the concentration gradient?

aaronq · Answer

sure, concentration in general would affect diffusion. Are we talking about in any system or a cell?

anonymous · Answer

well there's no specific cell or system... i guess the question refers to diffusion in general
in most cells

aaronq · Answer

across a membrane or just in the cytoplasm? lol  it really depends

anonymous · Answer

oh heh across the membrane sorry didn't get what you were trying to say

aaronq · Answer

hmm so yeah, concentration (gradient) is the greatest environmental factor. In general, non-polar molecules diffuse more rapidly than polar ones (some polar ones not at all), and need to be aided by proteins (active transport)).

aaronq · Answer

It depends on the type of molecule though, because pH and ionic strength, membrane fluidity (though thats not really "environmental").

aaronq · Answer

have an effect on the state of the molecule and it's permeability through the lipid bilayer

anonymous · Answer

alright well thanks so much! I'll probably just use concentration gradient and temp :)

aaronq · Answer

haha yeah, that should be fine since they didn't specify the nature of the molecule.