If you raise the pressure of gas in contact with a liquid, what occurs?

When the pressure of gas in contact with a liquid is increased, the gas will dissolve into the liquid until a state of saturation is reached. This phenomenon is described by Henry's law, which states that the amount of gas that can dissolve in a liquid at a given temperature is proportional to the pressure of that gas above the liquid.

As pressure increases, more gas molecules are pushed into the liquid phase, resulting in an increase in the concentration of the gas within the liquid. However, this process will continue only up to the point at which the liquid cannot hold any more gas—this is known as saturation. At this point, the rate of gas molecules entering the solution equals the rate of gas molecules coming out of the solution.

In contrast, if the pressure were to increase indefinitely, it could lead to an oversaturation scenario, but the solubility is a limiting factor that is defined by the saturation point.

Therefore, the correct understanding is that the gas dissolves into the liquid until it reaches saturation, and then the additional gas cannot further dissolve unless the conditions change (for example, through a decrease in pressure).