All around us, there exists an environment that has more to it than one can see. What we commonly call air, is a mixture of various other substances.
The most abundantly present substances are gases. So what exactly are gases?

Read the facts given below to find out.

1) What is a Gas and are their different kinds of Gases?
Gas, one of the fundamental states of matter like solids and liquids can be of different kinds.
Pure Gas: Neon takes the place of pure gas and is made up of single atom.
Elemental Gas: Two or more atoms of the same kind join together and the example is Hydrogen.
Compound Gas: Two or more atoms of different kind go to form this kind and the example is carbon monoxide.

2) Gases and their properties
Characterestic properties that all gases have are: Gases can expand and do so to fill the containers or the space they are confined in. Although they are also formed from solids and liquids, they occupy far more space. They can be easily compressed.

3) Gas Pressure
The pressure of gas is defined as the force that it exerts on the walls of its container and is measured in Pascals. It is an SI derived unit and is named after Blaise Pascal. Its symbol is Pa and in SI base units it is kg m-1s-2.

4) The air that surrounds us is made up of different kinds of gases.
The air that we breathe in contains different gases. It is predominantly made up of Nitrogen which is 78% and oxygen 21%.It also contains argon and carbon dioxide and very minute amounts of other gases.

5) What is natural Gas?
Mainly made up of methane, natural gas is used as a fuel to generate electricity. At homes, it is commonly used for heating and cooking. Natural gas is abundant, efficient, reliable, versatile and one of the safest fuels. It is also one of the cleanest burning conventional fluids.

6) Discovery of natural Gas
Natural gas was first discovered in the Middle East between 6000 and 2000 BC. It was ignited from the ground due to lightning strikes. It is a colorless, odorless and easily flammable gas. It is lighter than air.

7) Forms of natural Gas
There are wet and dry natural gas. Dry natural gas is essentially methane and is what is used for electrical power generation. It is also used in heating and cooling systems. Wet natural gas also contains methane but less than 85%.It has other gases such as ethane and butane.

8) What are Noble gases?
These are elements found in group 18 of the periodic table. They have the maximum number of valence electrons in their outer shell and hence are very stable. All noble gases conduct electricity and fluoresce. There are six noble gases: Helium, Neon, Argon, Krypton, Xenon and Radon.

9) Gases find their use in Medical applications
Different gases are used in anesthesia (Nitrous oxide) and are hence useful during surgery. Liquid nitrogen and helium are used in MR imaging.

10) A gas called Ozone
Ozone is a pale blue gas with a very pungent smell. There is a high concentration of this gas in the stratosphere compared to other parts of the atmosphere. This is referred to as the ozone layer and plays an important role in absorbing the sun’s ultraviolet radiation. The ozone layer was discovered by French physicists Charles Fabry and Henri Buisson in 1913.