Hyperbaric chambers, which provide high pressures (up to 6 atm) o...

Question

Hyperbaric chambers, which provide high pressures (up to 6 atm) of either air or pure oxygen, are used to treat a variety of conditions, ranging from decompression sickness in deep-sea divers to carbon monoxide poisoning. Look up the solubility of O₂, N₂, CO, and CO₂ in water at standard temperature and pressure (1 atm, 25 °C).Explain how elevated pressures in a hyperbaric chamber be used to treat decompression sickness (excess N₂ in blood) and carbon monoxide poisoning. (Refer to Section 7.9 and Section 9.5)

Accepted Answer

Welcome back, everyone. We need to explain how high pressure allows for the successful production of sparkling water. Note that the solubility of carbon dioxide in water is 0.1 69 g per 100 mL at standard temperature and pressure 1 a.m. and 25 Celsius. We have choice A which states that high pressure increases the solubility of carbon dioxide in water to form carbonic acid. Choice B which states that high pressure decreases the solubility of carbon dioxide in water so that gasses stay in the head space of the tightly sealed container. Choice C which states that high pressure maintains the solubility of carbon dioxide at its standard level and choice D which states that high pressure is not an important factor in the successful production of sparkling water. Let's begin by recalling our Henry's law and within Henry's law, we would recall that with an increase of pressure, we will have the correspondence of an increase in solubility of our gas. So in this case, in order to create sparkling water, we would have the reaction between carbon dioxide co two in gaseous form which reacts with water in liquid form. Note that this is an equilibrium reaction in which we would form one mole of a proton H plus as a product, as well as our anion of hydrogen carbonate. HCO +31 minus. Now, because hydrogen carbonate is formed, we would have its ionization which is followed where we would form our product, carbonic acid H two co three note that we're given our solubility of carbon dioxide equal to 0.169 g of CO2 per 100 mL of water. And based on Henry's law, we would imagine that if we increase our pressure of carbon dioxide gas, this will correspond to an increase in its solubility in water and the greater the solubility of our carbon dioxide. The more carbon carbonic acid H two co three is formed, meaning we have sparkling water as our product. And so we can understand that our high pressure of carbon dioxide is going to be maintained through a tight seal of the can of sparkling water. Now, looking at our answer choices, we would already based on what we've outlined, be able to rule out choice B since it states that high pressure decreases the solubility of carbon dioxide. And we would disagree with that statement, high pressure would increase its solubility. We would also be able to rule out choice C because it states that high pressure maintains the solubility of carbon dioxide at its standard level where we know that the high pressure would be exponentially increasing our solubility of carbon dioxide to form even more carbonic acid. And then choice D we can also rule out because it says that high pressure is not an important factor in the production of sparkling water when we know that it is. And so our final answer will be choice. A which states that high pressure increases the solubility of carbon dioxide in water to form carbonic acid. So I hope that this made sense and let us know if you have any questions.

Key Concepts

Gas Solubility

Decompression Sickness

Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

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