Question
Hydrogen and oxygen combine in two different ways to produce water and hydrogen peroxide. Which of Dalton’s law does this observation confirm? Explain.
Solution
In water 1 g of hydrogen combines with 8 g of oxygen. And in hydrogen peroxide, 2 g of hydrogen combines with 16 g of oxygen. The ratio of oxygen in water and hydrogen peroxide combining with the same amount of hydrogen i.e., 1 g is 8 : 16 or 1 : 2—a small integral ratio. This is law of multiple proportions which defines as under.
When two elements combine to form more than one compound, the masses of one element that combine with a given mass of the other element in different compounds are in the ratio of small whole numbers.
