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Home/Chemistry/Henry's Law (Gas Solubility)

Henry's Law (Gas Solubility)

Henry’s law states that, for a dilute solution in equilibrium with a gas headspace, the partial pressure of the solute gas is proportional to its concentration (or mole fraction) in the liquid: p = k_H c in one common linear form. The proportionality “constant” k_H is not truly constant: it varies with temperature because dissolution balances enthalpy and entropy. The simulator uses a compact van’t Hoff–type temperature dependence k_H(T) = k_ref exp((ΔH/R)(1/T − 1/T_ref)) anchored at 298.15 K, with ΔH interpreted as the dissolution enthalpy scale for the sketch. When ΔH < 0 (exothermic dissolution), k_H increases with T, so c = p/k_H decreases at fixed p — the familiar qualitative rule that cold solvent dissolves more gas. Presets give rough relative scales for O₂, N₂, and CO₂ in water-like sketches; they are pedagogical, not calibrated to NIST/CODATA Henry constants. The page also plots ln k_H versus T to visualize curvature from ΔH.

Who it's for: General chemistry (solubility of gases, oceans, carbonated drinks) and introductory chemical engineering mass transfer.

Key terms

  • Henry’s law
  • Henry constant
  • gas solubility
  • van’t Hoff equation
  • partial pressure
  • ideal dilute solution

Lower panel: ln k_H vs T — steeper |ΔH| bends the curve; slope vs 1/T is the van’t Hoff line.

Live graphs

Gas & solvent (ideal-dilute sketch)

298.15 K
1 atm
1
-14000

ΔH < 0: k_H rises with T, so c falls at fixed p (typical gases in water).

Shortcuts

  • •R — O₂ preset, 298 K, 1 atm

Measured values

k_H at T1.00000
Equilibrium c = p / k_H1.00000
d ln k_H / d(1/T) ≈ ΔH/R-1683.81 K

How it works

Henry’s law in the linear dilute limit ties gas partial pressure p to equilibrium molarity c in the liquid: p = k_H c (textbook k_H has pressure/concentration units). k_H(T) is moved by dissolution enthalpy via a van’t Hoff–type temperature factor exp((ΔH/R)(1/T − 1/T_ref)) around a reference k_ref at 298.15 K; with ΔH < 0 (exothermic dissolution), k_H rises as T increases so c = p/k_H drops — “cold water holds more gas.” Numbers are order-of-magnitude sketches, not CODATA/NIST tables; activity coefficients and nonideality are omitted.

Key equations

p = k_H(T) · c ⇒ c = p / k_H(T)
k_H(T) = k_ref · exp((ΔH/R)(1/T − 1/T_ref))

Frequently asked questions

Which Henry convention is used?
The page uses p = k_H c so k_H carries pressure/concentration units consistent with your chosen p (atm) and model c. Other texts define H = p/x or c = k·p; convert carefully between forms.
Why can real data disagree?
Salinity (Setschenow correction), pressure far from 1 atm, speciation (e.g. CO₂ ↔ H₂CO₃), and nonideality change activities; this model assumes an ideal dilute limit.
Is ΔH exactly the partial molar enthalpy of dissolution?
The exponential factor is a textbook-style temperature sensitivity knob; treat ΔH here as an illustrative parameter tied to the displayed slope ΔH/R, not a fitted spectroscopic value.