Question

Which of the following should have the largest Henry's law constant (kH) in water?XeCl2COCO2CH3CH3

Answer 1

Answer:

CO

Explanation:

Henry's law constant reflects the solubility of a gas in water. The larger the kH, the more soluble is the gas. There is a rule that states that "like dissolves like", meaning polar is soluble in polar and nonpolar is soluble in nonpolar. Since water is polar, we have to consider the nature of these gases.

Xe nonpolar

Cl₂ nonpolar

CO polar

CO₂ nonpolar

CH₃CH₃ nonpolar

CO is the only polar gas, so it has the largest kH.