Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Does salting out work with dissolved gases, pushing them out of solution?

Electra - 16-12-2015 at 12:46

If I had some water with a dissolved gas in it like ammonia, or some acid gas, would saturating the solution with a salt force the gas out?

I think yes by virtue of equilibrium and ionic solubility difference, but I can't find anything online about it.

DraconicAcid - 16-12-2015 at 12:51

I believe so, but I've never seen anything quantitative on it. As long as the salt isn't going to react with the gas you're trying to eliminate from solution.

gsd - 16-12-2015 at 20:02

Yes. If you add CaCl2 in 30 % HCl then Hydrogen Chloride gas "salts out".

gsd

DutchChemistryBox - 16-12-2015 at 22:49

Yes it works. This principle is also commonly used with gas chromatography headspace injections. If you search on that terms you will find more about it.

aga - 17-12-2015 at 12:15

Does anybody have an experiment in mind to test this ?

DraconicAcid - 17-12-2015 at 12:36

You could take solutions of concentrated ammonia, add various salts to some of them, and titrate to see what's left. Pipetting out solutions of conc. ammonia isn't fun, but it could be done.

[Edited on 17-12-2015 by DraconicAcid]

aga - 17-12-2015 at 12:43

Science not Fun ?

What ?

woelen - 17-12-2015 at 13:10

A nice example is adding table salt to carbonated soft drinks. You get a lot of bubbles when the salt dissolves. CO2 is "salted out".

DraconicAcid - 17-12-2015 at 13:11

Quote: Originally posted by woelen  
A nice example is adding table salt to carbonated soft drinks. You get a lot of bubbles when the salt dissolves. CO2 is "salted out".

Yeah, but that solution is supersaturated, so it's possible that the salt simply gives a nucleation site for the bubbles to form.

aga - 17-12-2015 at 13:45

Very simple to test woelen's excellent practical suggestion:

1) add 2g solid granulated table salt to a small bottle of fizzy drink.

2) Add just enough water to 2g of salt to dissolve it, then add that saturated solution to another identical bottle of fizzy drink.

In both cases immediately stick a Balloon on top of the bottle.

Observe Balloon size, and Measure the expansion as accurately as possible.

ANYBODY can do this (which is why woelen's suggestion is excellent) !

I Certainly will, in the interest of Science, and it sounds like a bit of fun as well.

Wonder if anybody else is actually interested in Science on this board ...

Measurements and experimental results will tell.

DraconicAcid - 17-12-2015 at 13:47

Quote: Originally posted by aga  
Very simple to test woelen's excellent practical suggestion:

1) add 2g solid granulated table salt to a small bottle of fizzy drink.

2) Add just enough water to 2g of salt to dissolve it, then add that saturated solution to another identical bottle of fizzy drink.

In both cases immediately stick a Balloon on top of the bottle.

Observe Balloon size, and Measure the expansion as accurately as possible.

ANYBODY can do this (which is why woelen's suggestion is excellent) !

I Certainly will, in the interest of Science, and it sounds like a bit of fun as well.

Wonder if anybody else is actually interested in Science on this board ...

Measurements and experimental results will tell.


Better yet, place the salt (or solution) inside the balloon, so it can be added while the balloon is in place.

aga - 17-12-2015 at 13:56

Makes it more difficult to do.

Not all balloons are created equal, yet two from the same pack will be close enough for the purposes of this experiment.

Edit:

Just thought : the two bottles must have about 30ml removed before starting, or the saturated solution will not fit in the bottle.



[Edited on 17-12-2015 by aga]

PHILOU Zrealone - 19-12-2015 at 12:27

Compare solubility of gases in water and in seawater, you will get your answer... soluble salts decreases the solubility of gases into water ;)

The solubility and saturation value for gases in sea water increase as temperature and salinity decrease and as pressure increases.