07-30-2018, 05:25 PM
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#73 (permalink)
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Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2017 Location: New Jersey
Posts: 238
| Re: Passive CO2 diffuser Quote:
Originally Posted by Gerald OK thanks tiger - so you're saying the K value for CO2 includes all the dissolved forms: CO2 gas, carbonic acid, and bicarbonate, right? I guess that explains why its K is so much lower than other gases. | Actually, I am not certain, but can only assume that K is derived from total dissolved CO2 that by definition includes free and ionized CO2. The two exist simultaneously and interchangeably. Free dissolved CO2 in equilibrium is not the same as CO2 mist created by artificially injection.
Ionized CO2 is carbonic acid. Carbonate and bicarbonate are dissolved salt of cations, not CO2. The only way to ascertain what is included in K is to review the lab procedure that derived K.
The reason CO2 has much lower K than other atmospheric gases is that it is a polar molecule that has great affinity for polar H2O, and can ionize. O2 and N2 are non-polar and dissolve in free phase only, no comparison. |
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