concentration gradient
1
6.0
- noun
- /ˌkɒnsənˈtreɪʃən ˈɡreɪdɪənt/
- Specialized
:
gradiente de concentración
- And movement down a concentration gradient occurs fairly rapidly over short distances, like a Micron or so.
- lateral concentration gradient
- concentration gradient in the liquid
It, it takes those components out, it takes them up a concentration gradient.
- It, it takes those components out, it takes them up a concentration gradient.
Examples
-
Chains of hundreds of amoebas move up the cAMP concentration gradient and merge into a mound made up of tens of thousands of individuals; see illustration above.
Academic text (2007) -
For the successful operation of a solar pond, the salt concentration gradient and the water level must be maintained.
Academic text (2002) -
It's related to the concentration gradient in species I.
-
Who is it that sets up these concentration gradients in the cell?
-
Thus, particle current has to flow against the concentration gradient.
Academic text (2002) -
And it's able to create a concentration gradient of sodium basically, but of ions that it can then use to reabsorb water.
-
For example, as gas concentrations build up in the chamber, the flux from soil to air decreases due to the decreased concentration gradient.
Academic text (1994) -
Constructed ponds can be made into solar ponds by creating a layered salt concentration gradient.
Academic text (2002) -
For example, will introductory-level students understand the work done when a concentration gradient is maintained across a cell membrane or when amino acids condense to form proteins (Wood-Robinson 1985)?
Academic text (2012) -
Gases such as carbon dioxide travel down their concentration gradient, from high concentration to low concentration areas.
Synonyms
9
5.2
A slow change in amount across a distance or area
Antonyms
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is compositionally built from 'concentration' (amount per volume) and 'gradient' (a pattern/rate of change), so its meaning — a change in concentration over distance — is directly derivable from the parts. This noun–noun technical compound follows common cross-linguistic patterns (e.g., 'gradiente de concentración' in Spanish) and would be understandable to a B1 learner who knows both constituents, despite its scientific register.
Etymology
Concentration gradient comes from a simple image: think of a hill where concentration means the amount of a substance and is high at the top and low at the bottom. The gradient is the slope between them, so particles move 'from high to low' along it, which is why the term means a gradual change in amount across a distance.