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The gradient is a fancy word for derivative, or the rate of change of a function. Itâs a vector (a direction to move) that. 1  Points in the direction of greatest increase of a function (intuition on why)  Is zero at a local maximum or local minimum (because there is no single direction of increase)
electrochemical gradient. the diffusion gradient of an ion, which is affected by both the concentration difference of an ion across a membrane (a chemical force) and the ion's tendency to move relative to the membrane potential (an electrical force).