Nitrous oxide: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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'''Nitrous oxide''' (dinitrogen oxide or dinitrogen monoxide), commonly known as '''laughing gas''', '''nitrous''', '''factitousfactitious air''', among others,<ref name="pubchem">{{Cite web |publisher=PubChem, US National Library of Medicine |title=Nitrous oxide |date=14 September 2024|url=https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/948 |access-date=20 September 2024 |language=en}}</ref> is a [[chemical compound]], an [[Nitrogen oxide|oxide of nitrogen]] with the [[Chemical formula|formula]] '''{{chem|N|2|O}}'''. At room temperature, it is a colourless [[Flammability#Definitions|non-flammable]] [[gas]], and has a slightly sweet scent and taste.<ref name=pubchem/> At elevated temperatures, nitrous oxide is a powerful [[Oxidising agent|oxidiser]] similar to molecular oxygen.<ref name=pubchem/>

Nitrous oxide has significant [[Nitrous oxide (medication)|medical uses]], especially in [[surgery]] and [[dentistry]], for its [[Anesthesia|anaesthetic]] and [[Analgesic|pain-reducing]] effects.<ref name="ACB 2020">{{cite journal |author1-last=Quax |author1-first=Marcel L. J. |author2-last=Van Der Steenhoven |author2-first=Timothy J. |author3-last=Bronkhorst |author3-first=Martinus W. G. A. |author4-last=Emmink |author4-first=Benjamin L. |date=July 2020 |title=Frostbite injury: An unknown risk when using nitrous oxide as a party drug |journal=Acta Chirurgica Belgica |publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]] on behalf of the Royal Belgian Society for Surgery |volume=120 |issue=1–4 |pages=140–143 |doi=10.1080/00015458.2020.1782160 |issn=0001-5458 |pmid=32543291 |s2cid=219702849}}</ref> Its colloquial name, "laughing gas", coined by [[Humphry Davy]], is due to the [[Euphoria|euphoric]] effects upon inhaling it, a property that has led to its [[Recreational use of nitrous oxide|recreational use]] as a [[Dissociative drug|dissociative]] anaesthetic.<ref name="ACB 2020"/> It is on the [[WHO Model List of Essential Medicines|World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines]].<ref name="WHO21st">{{cite book | title = World Health Organization model list of essential medicines: 21st list 2019 | year = 2019 | hdl = 10665/325771 | publisher = World Health Organization | location = Geneva | hdl-access=free | last1 = Organization | first1 = World Health }}</ref> It is also used as an oxidiser in [[rocket propellant]]s, and in [[auto racing|motor racing]] to increase the [[engine power|power output]] of [[petrol engine|engines]].