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re: General chemistry question: CO2 & O2



Hello Naomi,

If I do not remember my chemistry wrongly, CO2 and O2 dissolves in H20 by
different mechanism.  CO2 actually reacts chemically with water.

CO2  +  H20  <--->  H+  +  HCO3-

O2 will interact with water by mere van der Waals forces.  With my limited
knowledge, I cannot relate the 2 mechanisms.  N2 uses the same mechanism
and solubility may be affected by dissolved O2.

Maybe some chemist should correct me should I mislead anyone.

BC (Singapore)