RELATIVE DIFFUSIVITIES OF METHANE IN WATER AND CARBON TETRACHLORIDE

Abstract

Methane diffuses in water at 25 degrees C 3/5 as fast as it does in carbon tetrachloride. Since diffusivity depends mainly upon temperature, viscosity of the solvent, and molecular cross section of the diffusant, and since viscosities of H(2)O and CCl(4) at 25 degrees C are almost identical, one may infer that molecules of CH(4) in H(2)O are not imprisoned in "icebergs," and are retarded only by hydrogen bonds, not by encounters with "ice-like" aggregates.