Distinguish between the meaning of the terms adsorption and absorption. Give one example of each.
Science
Class 12
1599
Vedhika
This phenomenon of attracting and retaining the molecules of a substance by a solid (or a liquid) on its surface resulting into a higher concentration of the molecules on the surface is known as adsorption.
Absorption is different from adsorption.
In absorption, the substance is uniformly distributed throughout the body of a solid or a liquid.
Example : NH3 gets adsorbed on the charcoal where as NH3 when comes in contact with H2O gets absorbed by forming NH4OH solution of uniform concentration.