Question

State Henry's law and mention some important applications?

Answer 1

Henry's law:-

• Henry's law states that the solubility of the gas is directly proportional to the pressure of the gas at a constant temperature.
• This means that the more the pressure of the gas is, the more soluble the gas is.
• Also, if the pressure of the gas is low, we can say that the gas is not soluble or it is less soluble.
• The mathematical form is $\mathrm{P}={\mathrm{K}}_H\times \mathrm{x}$, where $\mathrm{P}=$the partial pressure of the gas, ${\mathrm{K}}_{\mathrm{H}}=$Henry's constant, $\mathrm{x}=$mole fraction of the gas.

Applications of Henry's law:-

• In soft drinks, to increase the solubility of Carbon dioxide$\left({\mathrm{CO}}_2\right)$ the bottles are sealed at a high pressure.
• This is why some of the gas escapes when we open a bottle of soft drink.
• The oxygen which is provided to the deep sea divers is diffused with less soluble Helium gas.
• This is done in order to reduce the painful effects of the higher soluble Nitrogen$\left({\mathrm{N}}_2\right)$gas present in the blood