N2O is nitrous oxide gas, also known as laughing gas, colorless and sweet. It is an oxidant. It can support combustion under certain conditions (like oxygen, because laughing gas can be decomposed into nitrogen and oxygen at high temperature), but it is stable at room temperature, has slight anesthetic effect and can make people laugh. Gas is one of the four basic material states (the other three are solid, liquid and plasma respectively), Gases can be composed of single atoms (such as rare gases), simple molecules composed of one element (such as oxygen), compound molecules composed of multiple elements (such as carbon dioxide), etc.
2. Nitrous oxide is a compound with the chemical formula of N2O, which is usually called laughing gas or nitrous oxide. It is a kind of nitrogen oxide. At room temperature, nitrous oxide is a colorless, nonflammable gas with a slight metallic smell; At high temperature, nitrous oxide is a powerful oxidant, similar to molecular oxygen. Nitrous oxide is soluble in water.
3. Nitrous oxide is stable at room temperature, has mild anesthetic effect and can make people laugh. Its anesthetic effect was discovered by Humphrey David, a British chemist, in 1799. It has important medical applications, mainly used in surgery and dentistry. It is also widely used as rocket propellant to enhance engine output and as oxidant in racing cars. Nitrous oxide is a small air pollutant and the main scavenger of stratospheric ozone. It is equivalent to CFCs. It is estimated that 30% of N2O in the atmosphere is the result of human activities, mainly agricultural activities.
