Dissolved gas occurs when a gas dissolves into a solute, including liquids, solids, and other gases. It can be used to monitor patient health, water quality, and identify unknown samples. Gas must be put under pressure to dissolve in liquids and solids, and anesthesiologists use dissolved gases to sedate patients.
Dissolved gas is a situation that occurs when a gas dissolves into another solute. People often think specifically of a gas-liquid mixture when they think of dissolved gases, but gases can also dissolve in other gases, as is the case with air. Gases can also be dissolved in solids, as seen in the trace amounts of impurities that can be caused in metals when gases are introduced during the casting process.
For gas to dissolve in a liquid, it usually has to be put under pressure and held under pressure to stay dissolved. If the pressure is reduced, the gas will start to precipitate out of the liquid. With solids, dissolved gases occur when there is pressure that traps the gas inside, and sometimes the gases precipitate and form bubbles inside the solid; bread, for example, contains numerous bubbles formed by the carbon dioxide released by the yeast inside the bread.
In medicine, measurements of dissolved gas are sometimes made to monitor the health of the patient. Healthy human blood has trace amounts of several gases, including oxygen and nitrogen. If these gases are out of balance, it can indicate that the patient has a health problem. Dissolved gas is also a problem when humans transition from high pressure to low pressure environments, as occurs when people rise too quickly during a dive and experience “the bends” as dissolved nitrogen in the blood is released too quickly.
Anesthesiologists also work with dissolved gases. When they deliver anesthesia to patients under general anesthesia, they must mix gases appropriately to keep the patient sedated and provide oxygen to the patient. This is done by adjusting an anesthesia machine in response to the patient’s performance under anesthesia.
Dissolved gas measurements are also used in assessing water quality. Water naturally contains some gases, and disruptions in the normal gas balance can be indicators of a water quality problem. Sites such as dams may have monitors in the water continuously to measure gases. Gas monitoring is also used in aquarium management.
People analyzing unknown samples can use a dissolved gas measurement to gather data about the sample and its origins. Such data can be useful for everything from identifying liquid samples taken at the crime scene to conducting studies of natural phenomena. Several types of laboratory equipment can be used to determine the level of gas in a solution and to identify which gases are involved.
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