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inert gas

(Encyclopedia)inert gas or noble gas, any of the elements in Group 18 of the periodic table. In order of increasing atomic number they are: helium, neon, argon, krypton, xenon, and radon. They are colorless, odorle...

producer gas

(Encyclopedia)producer gas, fuel gas consisting chiefly of carbon monoxide and nitrogen. It is prepared in a furnace or generator in which air is forced upward through a burning fuel of coal or coke. Although the f...

noble gas

(Encyclopedia)noble gas: see inert gas.

rare gas

(Encyclopedia)rare gas: see inert gas.

gas

(Encyclopedia)gas, in physics, one of the three commonly recognized states of matter, the other two being solid and liquid. A substance in the gaseous state has neither definite shape nor definite volume. Like liqu...

coal gas

(Encyclopedia)coal gas, gas obtained in the destructive distillation of soft coal, as a byproduct in the preparation of coke. Its composition varies, but in general it is made up largely of hydrogen and methane wit...

ideal gas

(Encyclopedia)ideal gas: see gas laws; kinetic-molecular theory of gases. ...

gas, fuel

(Encyclopedia)gas, fuel, gaseous substance that burns in air and releases enough heat to be useful as a fuel, while also remaining sufficiently stable at ordinary temperatures to permit long-term storage without de...

gas laws

(Encyclopedia)gas laws, physical laws describing the behavior of a gas under various conditions of pressure, volume, and temperature. Experimental results indicate that all real gases behave in approximately the sa...

gas mask

(Encyclopedia)gas mask, face covering or device used to protect the wearer from injurious gases and other noxious materials by filtering and purifying inhaled air. In addition to military use (see chemical warfare)...