What is Henry's law?

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Multiple Choice

What is Henry's law?

Henry's law describes how a gas dissolves in a liquid at a fixed temperature: the amount of dissolved gas is proportional to its partial pressure in the gas phase. In other words, the higher the partial pressure of the gas, the more of that gas will go into solution, following the relationship C = k_H × P_gas, where C is the dissolved concentration and k_H is the Henry’s law constant. This is why, for example, increasing the partial pressure of a gas increases its amount dissolved in a liquid. Context helps: in physiology, the amounts of O2 and CO2 dissolved in blood depend on their partial pressures in the alveoli and in the blood, while the actual rate of transfer also involves diffusion and blood flow. Temperature matters too—the solubility constant changes with temperature, and for most gases, solubility decreases as temperature rises. Why the other statements don’t fit: Henry’s law is not about diffusion rate (that’s more like Fick’s law), nor does solubility remain independent of pressure; and gas solubility generally decreases with higher temperature, not increases.

Henry's law describes how a gas dissolves in a liquid at a fixed temperature: the amount of dissolved gas is proportional to its partial pressure in the gas phase. In other words, the higher the partial pressure of the gas, the more of that gas will go into solution, following the relationship C = k_H × P_gas, where C is the dissolved concentration and k_H is the Henry’s law constant. This is why, for example, increasing the partial pressure of a gas increases its amount dissolved in a liquid.

Context helps: in physiology, the amounts of O2 and CO2 dissolved in blood depend on their partial pressures in the alveoli and in the blood, while the actual rate of transfer also involves diffusion and blood flow. Temperature matters too—the solubility constant changes with temperature, and for most gases, solubility decreases as temperature rises.

Why the other statements don’t fit: Henry’s law is not about diffusion rate (that’s more like Fick’s law), nor does solubility remain independent of pressure; and gas solubility generally decreases with higher temperature, not increases.

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