What are drying agents and what are the common drying agents?

16/12/2020 at 2:03 pm (last edited 16/12/2020 at 5:18 pm)

Drying agents are substances that can be used to obtain a dry sample of a gas by removing its moisture content.

Examples:
* Anhydrous calcium chloride (for any gas except ammonia)
Ammonia will react with calcium chloride.
4NH₃ (g) + CaCl₂ (s) –> CaCl₂.4NH₃ (s)

* Concentrated sulfuric acid (for any gas except alkaline gases such as ammonia)

* Calcium oxide
(for any gas except acidic gases such as CO₂ and SO₂)