Question

As oxygen is ____________ soluble in water. Air dissolved in water contains a
higher percentage of oxygen than ordinary air.
A. less
B. more
C. not
D. none of these

Answer 1

Oxygen is an important part of life as it plays an important role in breathing. Almost all living creatures whether plants or animals; aquatic or land-living require oxygen.

Step by step answer: Now, let’s discuss the concentration of oxygen in water and in air in detail.
We know that the mammals and other land-living creatures use oxygen in the atmosphere to breathe. But aquatic animals like fish use the oxygen dissolved in the water for breathing purposes. The solubility of oxygen gas is higher than the solubility of other gases.
The concentration of oxygen in the water is more than that of in the air because oxygen is more soluble in water than the air. Due to formation of hydrogen bonding the oxygen molecules get trapped between the vacant places between the molecules of water. We know that water is a polar solvent. Also the oxygen molecules have pi-electrons which induce a degree of polarity in them as they are susceptible to the polar environment.

Hence, option (B) more, is the correct option.

Note: The percentage of water depends up-on various different factors like temperature, dissolved salts and the pressure. When water is salty then it holds less amount of oxygen while when the temperature slows down i.e. at cold conditions, more oxygen will be dissolved.