The diffusion of an electrolyte

Abstract

Abstract I. Theoretical part: The diffusion of an electrolyte is due to a tendency of the ions to move towards points of lower concentration, while their charge causes a gradient of potential which makes both ions move with the same average velocity. The above mentioned tendency can be described by a “Penetrationsdruck” which depends on the concentration of the electrolyte. Moreover attention must be paid to the mutual influence of motions, which can be treated in a very general way by means of hydrodynamical considerations. The theory leads to a formula for the diffusion coefficient and for the diffusion potential. The latter has been compared with experiments mentioned in the literature.