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Henry's Law

Mediumchemistry

The Henry's law constant for oxygen dissolved in water at 298 K is 1.3 × 10³ atm. The partial pressure of oxygen in the atmosphere is 0.21 atm. The mole fraction of dissolved oxygen in water under these conditions is approximately:

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About This Question

Subject
chemistry
Chapter
solutions
Topic
henry's law
Difficulty
Medium
Year
2025
Tags
Henry's LawGas SolubilityMole Fraction

Solution

Correct Answer:

1.6 × 10⁻⁴

Henry's law states p = K_H × x, where p is the partial pressure of the gas, K_H is Henry's law constant, and x is the mole fraction of dissolved gas. Rearranging: x = p / K_H = 0.21 / (1.3 × 10³) = 0.1615 × 10⁻³ ≈ 1.6 × 10⁻⁴. Henry's law applies to dilute solutions of gases in liquids and is valid when the gas does not react with the solvent. The very small mole fraction confirms that oxygen has limited solubility in water at atmospheric pressure, which is consistent with everyday observation.

This medium difficulty chemistry question is from the chapter solutions, covering the topic of henry's law. It appeared in the 2025 exam.

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