# George Floyd and Gases in Solution **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 16, 2021, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-floyd-and-gases-in-solution/940117 "2021-04-16T00:01:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2021, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-floyd-and-gases-in-solution/940117/21 "2021-04-17T16:54:10Z")
To what extent is it even meaningful to speak of the phase of a solute? ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2021, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-floyd-and-gases-in-solution/940117/22 "2021-04-18T14:07:58Z")
Gases can mix in any way you like, water is only soluble in air until it reaches saturation. Thus we speak of relative humidity: relative in relation to saturation (which, as stated, in turn is a function of temperature). English even distinguishes between [steam](http://www.untrans.eu/english/words/steam.html) and vapor, something other languages have difficulty doing: steam is water dissolved in air, vapor is water droplets in suspension. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2021, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-floyd-and-gases-in-solution/940117/23 "2021-04-18T14:22:16Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > Gases can mix in any way you like, water is only soluble in air until it reaches saturation. I stand corrected. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2021, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-floyd-and-gases-in-solution/940117/24 "2021-04-18T14:23:36Z")
You’re welcome, my pleasure. ---
**Author:** ![mmmiiikkkeee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/edb3f5/32.png) [@mmmiiikkkeee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mmmiiikkkeee)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2021, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-floyd-and-gases-in-solution/940117/25 "2021-04-18T15:04:56Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > steam is water dissolved in air, vapor is water droplets in suspension. No, steam is water vapor at (or near) the boiling point. Vapor refers to water in the gaseous form, at any temperature but generally referring to under the boiling point. Suspended water droplets can be referred to as mist, fog, clouds etc. Pure saturated steam is invisible, but as it mixes with colder air it starts condensing as droplets which look white. So the hot plume shooting out of a boiling kettle is a mix of invisible steam and visible condensed droplets, but we generally (and imprecisely) just refer to the combination of the two as “steam”. ---
**Author:** ![am77494](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d2c977/32.png) [@am77494](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/am77494)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2021, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-floyd-and-gases-in-solution/940117/26 "2021-04-18T15:31:07Z")
Engineers distinguish between vapor and gas. In loose terms, A vapor can be turned into liquid by the application of pressure, a gas cannot. Take propane or butane vapor in a piston (a syringe like device with the outlet blocked), at room temperature ~70F. Apply pressure, and keep it at room temperature : the propane or butane will turn into a liquid. This why you can buy propane or butane liquefied in bottles at room temperature. Propane or Butane at room temperature are vapors. You can’t buy natural gas liquefied at room temp. Natural gas (methane) or Nitrogen or Air will not liquefy at room temperature: no matter how much pressure you apply. They are called gases. So, to restate : Vapors turn into liquids when squeezed, gases don’t. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2021, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-floyd-and-gases-in-solution/940117/27 "2021-04-18T15:38:43Z")
> [@mmmiiikkkeee](#): > > No, steam is water vapor at (or near) the boiling point. > [@am77494](#): > > Vapors turn into liquids when squeezed, gases don’t. OK, it is more complicated than I thought. Shall we open a new thread to discuss that subject? I have the impression I have understood the main points by now, but so I thought too three posts ago and I had not. ---
**Author:** ![Drsunflower1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drsunflower1/32/12711_2.png) [@Drsunflower1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drsunflower1)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2021, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-floyd-and-gases-in-solution/940117/28 "2021-04-18T16:05:51Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > English even distinguishes between [steam](http://www.untrans.eu/english/words/steam.html) and vapor, something other languages have difficulty doing Which other languages? In Dutch we know the difference. Steam=stoom, vapor=damp. After a short Google check I stand corrected. Neither the other Germanic European languages nor the Latin languages seem to distinguish. Ignorance fought! ---
**Author:** ![excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e8c25b/32.png) [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/excavating_for_a_mind)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2021, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-floyd-and-gases-in-solution/940117/29 "2021-04-18T20:02:54Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > You have humidity in the air, that sticky feeling is water dissolved in air. If you then under those humid conditions smell another liquid (alcohol, gasoline, ether… whatever) this is another liquid that is also dissolved in that gas. > [@naita](#): > > No, those are all instances of adding more gasses to the air. That is substantially different from dissolving a gas in a liquid. And neither one are instances of dissolving two liquids in a gas, which is the part of the OP that I was questioning. I have no idea how to answer > [@DtypeJag](#): > > Does this go for 2 different liquids disolved in a gas? since the question makes no sense. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2021, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-floyd-and-gases-in-solution/940117/30 "2021-04-18T20:10:49Z")
I think there is some confusion here: > [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](#): > > neither one are instances of dissolving two liquids in a gas Yes they are. But: > [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](#): > > which is the part of the OP that I was questioning What the OP really asks about (I believe) is not so much about dissolving _two gases in a liquid_, but rather about two gases binding to hemoglobin. I think we need a biochemist. ---
**Author:** ![excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e8c25b/32.png) [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/excavating_for_a_mind)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2021, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-floyd-and-gases-in-solution/940117/31 "2021-04-18T20:10:58Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > To what extent is it even meaningful to speak of the phase of a solute? This is the way to look at it. The phase is that of the solvent, not the solute. You can dissolve chemical species in solids, liquids, or gases (plasma too, I guess). In all cases, the phase of the solution is that of the solvent. Of course, once the solubility limit is reached, a second phase will precipitate out of the solution. ---
**Author:** ![excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e8c25b/32.png) [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/excavating_for_a_mind)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2021, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-floyd-and-gases-in-solution/940117/32 "2021-04-18T20:23:00Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > I think there is some confusion here: > > > [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](#): > > > > neither one are instances of dissolving two liquids in a gas > > Yes they are. But: > > > [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](#): > > > > which is the part of the OP that I was questioning Yes, confusion abounds. Look at the word “water”, which can have two meanings. One, it is a chemical, H20. It is also used to describe the liquid phase of the same. Ice and vapor being what the other two common phases are called. > [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > What the OP really asks about (I believe) is not so much about dissolving _two gases in a liquid_ , but rather about two gases binding to hemoglobin. I think we need a biochemist. I suspect your are correct, which is what the part of my post that you did not quote tried to address. I am not a biochemist, so my explanation may have had errors. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2021, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-floyd-and-gases-in-solution/940117/33 "2021-04-18T20:34:41Z")
I am not a biochemist either, but I do not believe I misquoted you. Concerning what “water” refers to, I use it in the sense of H²O, as my mentioning of evaporation and sublimation in #19 meant to convey. But what I mean and how others use a term is not the same, obviously. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2021, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-floyd-and-gases-in-solution/940117/34 "2021-04-18T22:14:07Z")
> [@am77494](#): > > Engineers distinguish between vapor and gas. > In loose terms, A vapor can be turned into liquid by the application of pressure, a gas cannot. Not in my, or my fathers, thermodynamics texts, nor, as far as I am aware, in any of the Chemical Engineering texts I’ve read. Nor, AFAIA, in anesthetics. And all gases can be turned into liquids by the application of pressure. And a phase may condense out of a mixture of gases on change of temperature. If I had to make a distinction, I’d say that a vapor consists of two or more phases. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2021, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-floyd-and-gases-in-solution/940117/35 "2021-04-19T09:59:20Z")
> [@mmmiiikkkeee](#): > > No, steam is water vapor at (or near) the boiling point. Vapor refers to water in the gaseous form, at any temperature but generally referring to under the boiling point. Suspended water droplets can be referred to as mist, fog, clouds etc. Steam is water vapor, regardless of what temperature it’s at. If it’s above the saturation temperature, it’s called superheated. > [@Melbourne](#): > > Not in my, or my fathers, thermodynamics texts, nor, as far as I am aware, in any of the Chemical Engineering texts I’ve read. Nor, AFAIA, in anesthetics. And all gases can be turned into liquids by the application of pressure. And a phase may condense out of a mixture of gases on change of temperature. > > If I had to make a distinction, I’d say that a vapor consists of two or more phases. Well, there’s this: > **[Vapor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vapor)** > > In physics, a vapor (American English) or vapour (British English and Canadian English; see spelling differences) is a substance in the gas phase at a temperature lower than its critical temperature, which means that the vapor can be condensed to a liquid by increasing the pressure on it without reducing the temperature of the vapor. A vapor is different from an aerosol. An aerosol is a suspension of tiny particles of liquid, solid, or both within a gas. > For example, water has a critical tempe... IOW, the temperature matters in determining whether a substance is a gas or a vapor. If a gas-phase substance is above the critical temperature, compressing it won’t turn it into a liquid; it’ll turn it into a supercritical fluid. Methane is a fine example: above 190.6K (its critical temp), it’s a gas, and can’t exist as a liquid. Below that temp, it’s a vapor and can be compressed into liquid form with sufficient pressure. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-floyd-and-gases-in-solution/940117.md?page=1)