Question

question 5
imagine the agarose gel as a sponge submerged in water. you add one drop of red and one drop of blue food dye to the sponge. the red dye molecules are much smaller than the blue dye molecules.
what do you expect to observe after a few minutes?
a the red dye would spread out further and faster within the sponge than the blue dye
b neither the red dye nor the blue dye would spread out faster within the sponge
c both the red and blue dyes would spread out equally within the sponge
d the blue dye would spread out further and faster within the sponge than the red dye

Explanation:

Diffusion rate is inversely related to molecule size. Smaller molecules (red dye) move more quickly and spread further in a medium (agarose gel/sponge) compared to larger molecules (blue dye).

Answer:

A. The red dye would spread out further and faster within the sponge than the blue dye