English: Diffusion of a plasma within a magnetic field is a geometric process. A plasma consists of a gas-like mixture of ions and electrons. As these particles are electrically charged, they will orbit around the direction of the magnetic field due to the Lorentz force. Any original velocity they had, which is a function of the temperature of the plasma, is retained. The result of the circular motion and remaining linear motion causes the particles to trace out a helix through space. Diffusion occurs when two particle's orbits intersect, which is a function of the area of the circle and the speed of the particle measured along the magnetic lines. The resulting formula is thus dependant on the square of the magnetic field strength, B ² , which defines the area, and the temperature, T, which defines the speed along the line of net motion.