22 Fun Facts About Gases

Chlorine Trifluoride was so dangerous that the Nazis refused to use it. Due to its unstableness, the chemical was unfit for weaponization. The chemical burned at over 2000°C and was able to melt bunkers, tanks, and burn entire cities.

Natural gas is odorless. The smell we experience comes from a harmless chemical called mercaptan, first ordered by the Texas Legislature in 1937 to be put into gas so that people could smell a leak. This law was introduced after the worst school disaster in US history occurred from a gas explosion in New London killing nearly 300.

50 to 85% of the oxygen on Earth comes from the ocean, mainly from phytoplankton.

The noble gas Xenon can be used as a near-perfect general anesthetic. It works fast, has minimal side effects, protects your brain, is environmentally friendly, and can be used at normal air pressure. The only downside is it's expensive and can't be synthesized.

When helium is cooled to almost absolute zero, the lowest temperature possible, it becomes a liquid with surprising properties. It can flow against gravity and will start running up and over the lip of a glass container.

Breathing 100% pure oxygen for more than 16 hours can lead to irreversible lung damage, damage to the retinas, and eventually, death.

Radon (a radioactive gas that can cause lung cancer) baths exist in the town of Khmilnyk, Ukraine. They advertise to treat a host of medical conditions and around 50,000 people a year use them.

Too much carbon dioxide in a crowded room can make you dumber.

Carbon Monoxide is used in the USA to make meat appear fresher. This practice is banned in Canada, Japan, Singapore, and the European Union.

The air used in bags of chips is actually Nitrogen, which keeps the chips from going stale.