Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Nitrous Oxide |
Nitrous OxideNoun1. Inhalation anesthetic used as an anesthetic in dentistry and surgery. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
| Domain | Definition |
Health | Nitrogen oxide (N2O). A colorless, odorless gas that is used as an anesthetic and analgesic. High concentrations cause a narcotic effect and may replace oxygen, causing death by asphyxia. It is also used as a food aerosol in the preparation of whipping cream. (references) |
Mining | A gas with the chemical formula, N2 O ; molecular weight, 46; sp gr, 1.6. This gas is produced by the blasting of certain nitroglycerine explosives, esp. if there is incomplete detonation. It is also produced in the exhaust of diesel locomotives. It is used as an anesthetic indentistry and is commonly known as laughing gas. (references) |
Science | A powerful greenhouse gas with a global warming potential of 320. Major sources of nitrous oxide include soil cultivation practices, especially the use of commercial and organic fertilizers, fossil fuel combustion, nitric acid production, and biomass burning. (N2O). (references) |
Weather | (N2O) A powerful greenhouse gas with a global warming potential most recently evaluated at 310. Major sources of nitrous oxide include soil cultivation practices, especially the use of commercial and organic fertilizers, fossil fuel combustion, nitric acid production, and biomass burning. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
General
|
|
|---|---|
| Name | Dinitrogen oxide |
| Chemical formula | N2O |
| Appearance | Colourless gas |
Physical
|
|
| Formula weight | 44.0 amu |
| Melting point | 182 K (-91 °C) |
| Boiling point | 185 K (-88 °C) |
| Density | 1.2 ×103 kg/m3 (liquid) |
| Solubility | 0.112 g in 100g water |
Thermochemistry
|
|
| ΔfH0gas | 82.05 kJ/mol |
| ΔfH0liquid | ? kJ/mol |
| ΔfH0solid | ? kJ/mol |
| S0gas, 1 bar | 219.96 J/mol·K |
| S0liquid, 1 bar | ? J/mol·K |
| S0solid | ? J/mol·K | Safety
|
| Inhalation | See main text. May cause asphyxiation without warning. |
| Skin | Hazardous when cryogenic or compressed. |
| Eyes | Hazardous when cryogenic or compressed. |
| More info | Hazardous Chemical Database |
|
SI units were used where possible. Unless otherwise stated, standard conditions were used.
Disclaimer and references | |
The structure of the nitrous oxide molecule is a linear chain of a nitrogen atom bound to a second nitrogen, which in turn is bound to an oxygen atom. It is a resonance structure of
The gas was discovered by Joseph Priestley in 1772; Humphry Davy in the 1790s tested the gas on himself and some of his friends (including the poets Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Robert Southey). They soon realised that nitrous oxide considerably dulled the sensation of pain, even if the inhaler were still semi-conscious, and so it came into use as an anaesthetic, particularly by dentists.
There have been examples of abuse of nitrous oxide for its euphorient effects. The fear of staff abusing the gas is the main reason that it is rarely used today. While the gas itself is not toxic, death can result if it is inhaled in such a way that not enough oxygen is breathed in, especially if the user becomes unconscious. Long-term use in large quantities has been associated with symptoms similar to vitamin B12 deficiency: anemia and neuropathy.
The gas is excellently soluble in fatty compounds. In aerosol whipped cream, it is dissolved in the fatty cream until it leaves the can, when it becomes gaseous and thus creates foam. The anaesthetic function of nitrous oxide is not completely understood, but it is thought that the gas interacts with the plasma membranes of nerve cells in the brain and thus affects the communication among such cells at their synapses.
In car racing, nitrous oxide is sometimes injected into the air intake to increase power: even though the gas itself is not flammable, it delivers more oxygen than air and thus allows the engine to burn more fuel.
Nitrous oxide can also be used to produce nitrites by mixing it with boiling alkali metals and to oxidize organic compounds at high temperatures.
The CAS number of nitrous oxide is 10024-97-2 and its UN number is 1070.
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Nitrous oxide."
Synonym: Nitrous OxideSynonym: laughing gas (n). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Physical Insensibility | Anaesthetic agent, opium, ether, chloroform, chloral; nitrous oxide, laughing gas; exhilarating gas, protoxide of nitrogen; refrigeration. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Nitrous Oxide |
| Specialty definitions using "nitrous oxide": enhanced greenhouse effect ♦ greenhouse gas, GREENHOUSE GASES ♦ radiatively active gases ♦ TRACE GAS, tracer-gas technique. (references) |
| Domain | Title |
Books | |
Theater & Movies | |
High Tech |
|
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Economic History | Bahrain | For the phase II upgrade, Germany's Fichtner won the USD 1.3 million consultancy contract in January 2001. The contract involves the provision of consultancy services for rehab of the ABB-manufactured turbines, a reduction in nitrous oxide emissions and an upgrade of control systems. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "nitrous oxide"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Danish | N2O (dinitrogen monoxide, dinitrogen oxide, laughing gas), lattergas (dinitrogen monoxide, dinitrogen oxide, laughing gas, nitric oxide), kvaelstofforilte (nitric oxide), kvælstofforilte (dinitrogen monoxide, dinitrogen oxide, laughing gas), E942 (dinitrogen monoxide, dinitrogen oxide, laughing gas), dinitrogenoxid (dinitrogen monoxide, dinitrogen oxide, laughing gas, nitric oxide), dinitrogenmonoxid (dinitrogen monoxide, dinitrogen oxide, laughing gas). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dutch | N2O (dinitrogen monoxide, dinitrogen oxide, laughing gas), stikstofoxyduul (dinitrogen monoxide, dinitrogen oxide, laughing gas), stikstofoxydule (dinitrogen monoxide, dinitrogen oxide, laughing gas), lachgas (dinitrogen monoxide, dinitrogen oxide, laughing gas, nitric oxide), E942 (dinitrogen monoxide, dinitrogen oxide, laughing gas), distikstofoxyde (dinitrogen monoxide, dinitrogen oxide, laughing gas), distikstofoxidn (dinitrogen monoxide, dinitrogen oxide, laughing gas). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Finnish | ilokaasu (laughing gas). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
French | N2O, protoxyde d'azote (nitric oxide), oxyde nitreux, oxyde azoteux, hémioxyde d'azote (nitric oxide), gaz hilarant, E942, anhydride hypoazoteux. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
German | N 2 O (dinitrogen monoxide, dinitrogen oxide, E942, laughing gas, N2O), Stickstoffoxidul (dinitrogen monoxide, dinitrogen oxide, E942, laughing gas, N2O), Stickstoffoxid (dinitrogen monoxide, dinitrogen oxide, E942, laughing gas, N2O), Stickstoff-I-oxid (dinitrogen monoxide, dinitrogen oxide, E942, laughing gas, N2O), Stickoxidul (dinitrogen monoxide, dinitrogen oxide, E942, laughing gas, N2O), Stickoxid (dinitrogen monoxide, dinitrogen oxide, E942, laughing gas, N2O), Lustgas (dinitrogen monoxide, dinitrogen oxide, E942, laughing gas, N2O), Lachgas (gas, laughing gas), E942 (dinitrogen monoxide, dinitrogen oxide, E942, laughing gas, N2O), Distickstoffoxid (dinitrogen monoxide, dinitrogen oxide, E942, laughing gas, N2O), Distickstoffmonoxid (dinitrogen monoxide, dinitrogen oxide, E942, laughing gas, N2O), Distickoxid (dinitrogen monoxide, dinitrogen oxide, E942, laughing gas, N2O), Dinitrogenoxid (dinitrogen monoxide, dinitrogen oxide, E942, laughing gas, N2O). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Greek | ιλαρυντικό αέριο (laughing gas), νιτρικό οξύ (nitric acid, vitriolic acid), πρωτοξείδιο του αζώτου (dinitrogen monoxide, dinitrogen oxide, E942, laughing gas, N2O, nitric oxide), υποξείδιο του αζώτου (dinitrogen monoxide, dinitrogen oxide, E942, laughing gas, N2O). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hungarian | nitrogén(i)-oxid. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Italian | N2O (dinitrogen monoxide, dinitrogen oxide, E942, laughing gas, N2O), protossido di azoto (dinitrogen monoxide, dinitrogen oxide, E942, laughing gas, N2O), protossido d'azoto (nitric oxide), ossido nitroso (dinitrogen monoxide, dinitrogen oxide, E942, laughing gas, N2O), gas esilarante (laughing gas), E942 (dinitrogen monoxide, dinitrogen oxide, E942, laughing gas, N2O). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Kanji | 笑気 (laughing gas), 亜酸化' (N2O, nitrogen dioxide). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Katakana | しょうき (affectation, business opportunity, consciousness, desire to be impressive, god to ward off illness and misfortune, laughing gas, marsh gas, methane, minute description, person of small capacities, sanity, small container, soberness, true character, true heart, true spirit), あさ"かちっそ (N2O). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pig Latin | itrousnay oxideay N2O (dinitrogen monoxide, dinitrogen oxide, E942, laughing gas, N2O), protóxido de nitrogénio (dinitrogen monoxide, dinitrogen oxide, E942, laughing gas, N2O), protóxido de azoto (dinitrogen monoxide, dinitrogen oxide, E942, laughing gas, N2O, nitric oxide), E942 (dinitrogen monoxide, dinitrogen oxide, E942, laughing gas, N2O), óxido azotoso (dinitrogen monoxide, dinitrogen oxide, E942, laughing gas, N2O). (various references) веселящий газ (laughing gas, laughing-gas), закись азота. (various references) óxido nitroso (dinitrogen monoxide, dinitrogen oxide, E942, laughing gas, N2O). (various references) N2O (dinitrogen monoxide, dinitrogen oxide, E942, laughing gas, N2O), lustgas (laughing gas), dikväveoxid (dinitrogen monoxide, dinitrogen oxide, E942, laughing gas, N2O). (various references) แก๊ซไนตรัสออกไซ"์ที่ใช้ป้องกันการเจ็บปว"เมื่อทำฟัน. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Misspellings | |
"Nitrous Oxide" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: nitous oxide, nitros oxide. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "d-e-i-i-n-o-o-r-s-t-u-x" | |
-2 letters: eruditions. | |
-3 letters: disorient, erudition, extrusion, outsnored, retinoids, tournedos, trioxides. | |
-4 letters: derision, dextrins, dextrous, diorites, disinter, disunite, dourines, duotones, editions, idoneous, inditers, intrudes, ironside, neuritis, nextdoor, nitrides, nudities, outdoers, outrides, outsider, outsnore, oxidiser, resinoid, retinoid, roundest, routines, sedition, snootier, snoutier, sourdine, tonsured, trioxide, trioxids, unrooted, unsorted, untidier, untidies, uridines. | |
-5 letters: detours, dextrin, dineros, dinitro, diorite. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Commercial | 5. Quotations: Non-fiction 6. Expressions: Internet 7. Translations: Modern 8. Derivations | 9. Anagrams 10. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
