A practical demonstration of Henry’s law is the effervescence of a soft drink when
the cap of the bottle is removed. Before the beverage bottle is sealed, it is pressurized with a mixture of air and CO2 saturated with water vapor. Because of the high partial pressure of CO2 in the pressurizing gas mixture, the amount dissolved in the soft drink is many times the amount that would dissolve under normal atmospheric conditions.When the cap is removed, the pressurized gases escape, eventually the pressure in the bottle falls to atmospheric pressure, and the amount of CO2 remaining in the beverage is determined only by the normal atmospheric partial pressure of CO2, 0.0003 atm. The excess dissolved CO2 comes out of solution, causing the effervescence. Most gases obey Henry’s law, but there are some important exceptions. For example, if the dissolved gas reacts with water, higher solubilities can result. The solubility of ammonia is much higher than expected because of the reaction