The solubility of xenon, krypton, argon, neon, and helium in water

Abstract

The rare gases of the atmosphere are more than any others entitled to justify the hope that simple laws for the solubility of gases in liquids may be found; because they are monatomic; and also because there is no risk of complication owing to the formation of compounds with the solvent. For this reason Sir William Ramsay suggested to Th. Estreieher that he should investigate the solubility of argon and helium in water; and last year he was kind enough to place at my disposal a sufficient quantity of xenon, krypton, and neon, so as to enable me to examine the solubility of these rare gases. There were about 8 c. c. of pure neon and about 300 c. c. each of xenon and krypton, which were prepared by Sir W. Ramsay and R. B. Moore by fractionating the residue of distillation of over 100,000 litres of liquid air. About 10 c. c. of each gas was sufficient for the determination of its solubility. First Apparatus . —Two different methods for the determination of solubility were employed. In order to carry out exact experiments with the least possible quantity of gas, the first apparatus, which was used only to determine the solubility of xenon, was built somewhat on the principle of Bunsen’s absorptiometer, inasmuch as the burette was used as the absorbing vessel. The liquid was stirred by dropping mercury; and the levels were read at various pressures. Saturation was reached at 40° to 50°C. within about 10 minutes, but at 0°C. it was complete only after five or six hours. The long time required was one reason for rejecting the first form of apparatus for the other experiments; moreover, when saturation was reached, and even earlier, bubbles of gas, which adhered to the glass and prevented accurate readings, constantly rose from the surface of the mercury as if there were local supersaturation.