What is laughing gas: nitrous oxide. What is nitrous oxide Chemical formula of laughing gas

"Laughing gas"- nitrous oxide (nitric oxide). It is a mixture of oxygen and nitric oxide (N2O). Its formula was obtained in 1772-1774 by the English physicist, philosopher and Protestant priest Joseph Priestley (1733-1804).

Nitrous oxide is a colorless gas with a faint odor and a sweetish taste, heavier than air (relative density 1.527). Soluble in water (1:2). At 0°C and a pressure of 30 atmospheres, as well as at ordinary temperature and pressure of 40 atmospheres, it condenses into a colorless liquid. One kilogram of liquid nitrous oxide produces 500 liters of gas. Nitrous oxide does not ignite, but supports combustion. Mixtures with ether, cyclopropane, chloroethyl in certain concentrations are explosive.

Nitrous oxide was called “laughing gas” by the English chemist Humphry Davy, who, while studying the effects of nitrous oxide on himself (1799), discovered excitement in the initial phase, accompanied by laughter and erratic body movements, followed by loss of consciousness.

Small concentrations of nitrous oxide cause a feeling of intoxication and slight drowsiness. When inhaling pure gas, a narcotic state and asphyxia quickly develop. When mixed with oxygen, when dosed correctly, it causes anesthesia without preliminary stimulation or side effects. Nitrous oxide does not cause respiratory irritation. In the body, it remains almost unchanged and does not bind to hemoglobin; is in a dissolved state in plasma. After cessation of inhalation, it is excreted (completely after 10-15 minutes) through the respiratory tract unchanged. In medicine, it is used in a mixture with oxygen as a means for inhalation anesthesia during surgery, childbirth, and sometimes during myocardial infarction.

After the introduction of a ban in Russia on June 1, 2012 on the over-the-counter sale of combination drugs containing codeine or its salts, the psychoactive substance nitrous oxide became popular among drug addicts. They use it inhalation, mainly using balloons filled with nitrous oxide.

The substance has been distributed mainly in nightclubs since the summer of 2012. According to the chief narcologist of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Evgeniy Bryun, doctors do not yet know what consequences may arise from the use of this substance, and how dependence on it occurs.

Signs of nitrous oxide use:

With short-term use - stupid behavior, unreasonable uncontrollable laughter, dizziness, frequent headaches, frequent fainting and frequent loss of consciousness.

With long-term use, short-term amnesia, emotional instability, disturbance of thought processes, deterioration of hearing and touch, unsteady gait, slurred speech, gradual brain atrophy.

Laughing gas (also known as dinitrogen oxide or nitrous oxide) was discovered in the mid-18th century by US physicist Joseph Priestley. Laughing gas is a volatile compound with a slightly sweet taste and delicate aroma. It has found application in various fields of industry (automotive, medical, food).

But, due to the fact that laughing gas nitrous oxide differs from its “gas” counterparts in specific properties, its use is quite original. Often harmless children's balloons are inflated with this gas and sold under the guise of beautiful accessories for holidays. Nitrous oxide balls are very popular among certain individuals.

Laughing gas poses a threat to human health

Dianitrogen oxide is produced by exposing copper to weakly concentrated sulfuric acid. Then moistened iron is included in the recovery process. Through a chemical reaction, an original substance appears with the chemical formula: N2O.

How does laughing gas work?

The compound received the name “happy” because of its special effect on the body. It provokes the appearance of intoxication and invigorating euphoria. Nitrous oxide is traditionally used in industrial and medical fields. It is used in:

cosmetic field for the manufacture of perfumes;
technical production as one of the components for combustible fuel;
food industry in the production of whipped cream, creams, pastilles for cakes;
as anesthesia (during major surgical interventions, there is always a cylinder of laughing gas at the patient’s head).

Properties of an unusual substance

To understand what laughing gas is, it is worth learning better about its properties, which, by the way, are far from “laughing” in nature. Namely:

At minimum dosage. When gas enters the body, even in minimal quantities, it has a negative effect on the body. The human brain suffers, causing a sensation similar to mild intoxication. A person, having inhaled a little dinitrogen oxide, feels a surge of cheerfulness and fun.

What threat does nitrous oxide pose?

In some cases, even short-term use of laughing gas can cause loss of consciousness, headache and severe dizziness.

With prolonged use. When nitrous oxide is used regularly, the harm of laughing gas increases. The original “optimistic” effect appears in reverse. A person has:

drowsiness;
hearing impairment;
unsteadiness of gait;
short-term amnesia;
violation of speech functions;
difficulty in thinking processes.

Consequences of "gas pollution"

According to many ignorant people who think that laughing gas is a substance that simply changes the voice, making it funny and amusing. They don't even imagine the consequences of frivolous fun. And they get hooked on the joyful excitement, while risking facing more than sad consequences:

Megaloblastic anemia.
Serious hearing problems.
Degradative destruction of the spinal cord.
Decreased tone and dystrophy of muscle tissue.
Rapid deterioration of vision, up to its complete loss.

All these consequences are irreversible. Moreover, death from laughing gas can also come to a person. Lethal outcome is possible even with short-term and small inhalation..

The Hidden Threat of "Fun"

Nitrous oxide is very addictive (4-5 doses are enough). This chemical compound has a psychotropic effect on the central nervous system, causing addiction. As it develops, a person experiences the following symptoms:

feelings of anxiety and fear;
regular headaches;
constant dizziness.

A drug addict, without receiving the usual dose of laughing gas, is unable to perform usual actions and cannot even answer primitive questions. The growing degradation of brain cells provokes a deterioration in the general condition, which occurs against the background of frequent loss of consciousness.

What are the consequences of long-term use of laughing gas?

A person’s appearance also changes: the skin takes on an earthy tint, the eyes become dull, and the drug addict is haunted by an unpleasant odor from the skin and from the mouth. Another danger awaits those who are dependent on nitrous oxide - long-term use of the gas has a destructive effect on the central nervous system. The result is:

Hypoxia. The body, constantly experiencing a lack of oxygen, provokes the appearance of persistent hallucinations in a person. The ability to understand and distinguish colors and smells changes. Taste buds are destroyed. Reality becomes completely different, a person begins to develop persecution mania.

Blood composition. A persistent fan of breathing nitrous oxide changes the composition of the blood. There is a persistent drop in leukocyte levels and the development of anemia. This leads to a severe weakening of the immune system and frequent infectious diseases. The illnesses are long-lasting and difficult to treat, becoming chronic.

Why "fun"

This name was given to the gas compound by the British chemist Davy. He experienced the effects of nitrous oxide for the first time. After feeling a slight but pleasant intoxication and physical activity, a person is faced with inexplicable and uncontrollable laughter. This effect is short-lived and ends after 10-15 minutes.

Is laughing gas prohibited or not?

Nitrous oxide can be obtained quite legally. It is not prohibited and is freely sold in specialized stores or online stores. This freedom makes it easy for drug addicts to get their next dose of a dangerous substance..

Nitrous oxide can be seen commercially in two forms. Laughing gas is a form of food grade nitrous oxide. And inhaling technical forms of the compound is strictly prohibited.

Initially, nitrous oxide was used in its pure form (technical) without the inclusion of oxygen. If you start breathing such gas, then after a couple of minutes a person develops anoxia (oxygen starvation), leading to death.

What to do

Proper use of laughing gas does not lead to dire consequences. It is quickly removed from internal organs and tissues naturally, without causing much trouble. Unfortunately, experts have not yet fully studied the harm caused by nitrous oxide. Therefore, laughing gas is freely available.

Symptoms of laughing gas poisoning

What's more, it's advertised as a fun party accessory. This gas is purchased in cylinders and sprayed into the surrounding air. This “trick” poses a serious threat to people having fun, because after the first tasting it will be difficult to refuse the next one.

Inhalation of laughing gas gave impetus to the emergence of a new direction of substance abuse. Nitrous oxide poses a serious danger to humans, so it should not be used thoughtlessly.

Modern experts confidently say that nitrous oxide should be completely banned from free sale and this compound should be classified as a psychotropic narcotic substance. But for now it is completely available for sale and the only thing you can rely on is a person’s common sense and reason. Don't risk your health!

1.223 g/cm³ Thermal properties Melting point -90.86 °C Boiling point -88.48 °C Classification Reg. CAS number 10024-97-2

Nitrogen(I) oxynitride (dinitrogen oxide, nitrous oxide, nitric oxide, laughing gas) - compound with chemical formula 2. Sometimes called "laughing gas" because of the intoxicating effect it produces. At normal temperatures it is a colorless, non-flammable gas with a pleasant sweetish odor and taste.

Receipt

Nitrous oxide is produced by heating dry ammonium nitrate. Decomposition begins at 170 °C and is accompanied by the release of heat. Therefore, in order to prevent it from proceeding too violently, heating should be stopped in time, since at temperatures above 300 °C ammonium nitrate decomposes explosively:

A more convenient way is to heat sulfamic acid with 73% nitric acid:

In the chemical industry, nitrous oxide is a by-product and catalytic converters are used to destroy it, since isolation as a commercial product is usually not economically feasible.

Story

Physical properties

Nitrous oxide intended for medical purposes (high degree of purification from impurities) does not cause irritation to the respiratory tract. Being dissolved in the blood plasma during inhalation, it practically does not change and is not metabolized, and does not bind to hemoglobin. After cessation of inhalation, it is excreted (within 10-15 minutes) through the respiratory tract unchanged. The half-life is 5 minutes.

Anesthesia using nitrous oxide is used in surgical practice, operative gynecology, surgical dentistry, and also for pain relief during childbirth. “Therapeutic analgesic anesthesia” (B.V. Petrovsky, S.N. Efuni) using a mixture of nitrous oxide and oxygen is sometimes used in the postoperative period to prevent traumatic shock, as well as to relieve pain attacks in acute coronary insufficiency, myocardial infarction, acute pancreatitis and other pathological conditions accompanied by pain that cannot be relieved by conventional means.

Nitrous oxide is used mixed with oxygen using special devices for gas anesthesia. Usually they start with a mixture containing 70-80% nitrous oxide and 30-20% oxygen, then the amount of oxygen is increased to 40-50%. If it is not possible to obtain the required depth of anesthesia, with a nitrous oxide concentration of 70-75%, more powerful narcotics are added: fluorothane, diethyl ether, barbiturates.

To more completely relax the muscles, muscle relaxants are used, which not only enhances muscle relaxation, but also improves the course of anesthesia.

After stopping the supply of nitrous oxide, oxygen should be continued for 4-5 minutes to avoid hypoxia.

Nitrous oxide, like any anesthesia, must be used with caution, especially in cases of severe hypoxia and impaired diffusion of gases in the lungs.

To anesthetize labor, they use the method of intermittent autoanalgesia using, using special anesthesia machines, a mixture of nitrous oxide (40-75%) and oxygen. The woman in labor begins to inhale the mixture when signs of contraction appear and ends inhalation at the height of the contraction or at its end.

To reduce emotional arousal, prevent nausea and vomiting and potentiate the effect of nitrous oxide, premedication with intramuscular injection of a 0.5% solution of diazepam (seduxen, sibazon) in an amount of 1-2 ml (5-10 mg), 2-3 ml 0. 25% solution of droperidol (5.0-7.5 mg).

Therapeutic anesthesia with nitrous oxide (for angina pectoris and myocardial infarction) is contraindicated in severe diseases of the nervous system, chronic alcoholism, and alcohol intoxication (excitement and hallucinations are possible).

Release form: in metal cylinders with a capacity of 10 liters under a pressure of 50 atm in a liquefied state. The cylinders are painted gray and labeled “For medical use.”

In internal combustion engines

Nitrous oxide is sometimes used to improve the performance of internal combustion engines. In automotive applications, a substance containing nitrous oxide and fuel are injected into the intake manifold of the engine, resulting in the following results:

reduces the temperature of the air sucked into the engine, providing a dense incoming charge of the mixture.
increases the oxygen content in the incoming charge (air contains only ~21 wt.% oxygen).
increases the speed (intensity) of combustion in the engine cylinders.

In the food industry

In the food industry, the compound is registered as a food additive E942, as propellant and packaging gas.

Storage

Storage: at room temperature, indoors, away from fire.

Literature

Mashkovsky M. D. Nitrous oxide// Medicines. - Mashkovsky's directory on-line.

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Nitrogen oxides
Nitric oxide (I) (N 2 O)
Nitric oxide (III) (N 2 O 3)

I came to chemistry through the Olympiads. And already in the seventh grade (we had a ten-year education) we drew structural-valence formulas of various simple substances. It was then, while preparing for the Olympics, that I was surprised to learn that in nitrogen oxide (I), the famous laughing gas, the existence of which I generally learned from Grebenshchikov’s song (remember - “laughing gas comes out of the kitchen taps”...) - in general, there, nitrogen is not monovalent, as we were taught at school. Also, the magic word “resonance structure” appeared in the vocabulary of us eighth-graders, which significantly helped us subsequently cope with aromatic compounds.

Well, let's look at this interesting compound, which is not at all as simple as it seems from its gross formula N 2 O.

Joseph Priestley

For the first time, humanity was introduced to our hero by the British chemist (however, then it was customary to say “natural philosopher”), the discoverer of oxygen, Joseph Priestley. In his book “Experiments and Observations of Various Kinds of Air,” published in 1775, he told how three years earlier He obtained “phlogistinated nitrous air” by heating iron filings soaked in nitric acid. By the way, he also discovered nitrogen monoxide NO.
Priestley called it “saltpeter air.” However, now we’re not talking about our hero’s “big brother.”

Priestley's book and his instruments

N 2 O has many names. Nitrous oxide, nitrous oxide (I), laughing gas, nitrogen (I) oxonitride, dinitrogen oxide... “Your chemistry is abundant and rich, but there is no order in it.” What was Priestley's discovery? Gas, colorless, non-flammable, sweetish pleasant smell and even taste... There is a very small difference between the boiling and freezing points - at -88 C it is still laughing gas, and at -91 C it is already laughing snow. A little more than two degrees Kelvin - the interval of existence of the liquid phase!

James Watt

Our hero had to wait a little over two decades for practical application. In 1794, a book by one of the inventors of the steam engine, James Watt, and medical reformer Thomas Beddoe, “Considerations on the medical use and production of artificial air,” was published (that’s right, then there was a lot of air - as we remember, Priestley called nitrogen oxides air).

Thomas Beddoe

There were two important points in this book. Firstly, Watt proposed a “machine” for the production of N2O, as well as an inhalation device for the medical use of gases. And secondly, Beddoe presented a new theory that tuberculosis and other lung diseases could be cured by inhaling “artificial air.” It didn’t work, of course, but a way to use it was found.

Horatio Wells

Another half century passed, and Horatio Wells, an American dentist, performed the first ever tooth extraction using laughing gas anesthesia. However, the narcotic qualities of laughing gas became clear back in the 18th century. From 1799 until at least 1863, sources note a new entertainment among high society in Great Britain - “laughing gas parties”, where salon audiences gathered to inhale nitrous oxide before the appearance of King Arthur.

Tooth extraction with laughing gas anesthesia by Horatio Wells

Interestingly, the narcotic and analgesic effects of nitric oxide are achieved through two different mechanisms. The first is the activation of the endogenous opioid system and its interaction with the descending noradrenergic system.
The second is the effect of N 2 O on the mesolimbic pathway and the release of excess dopamine in the reward zone. Such a small molecule, but such a complex action!

Our hero also adds fun to auto tuning lovers. Or rather, more energy for the engine of their car. Injecting N 2 O into the cylinders reduces the temperature of the air sucked into the cylinders, increasing the density of the mixture and increasing the rate of fuel combustion. By the way, it is curious that this use of nitrogen oxide is not new; rocket pioneer Robert Goddard was the first to use it in engines; last year marked exactly a century since the start of the incendiary career of laughing gas.

But let us return, at the end of our article, to the Olympiad and structural formulas. So what does a nitric oxide molecule actually look like? Is the seemingly logical structural formula N-O-N really wrong?

Absolutely right. The N 2 O molecule is not like that at all, and it’s not even a matter of the multiplicity of bonds. Even topologically, it is structured differently - two nitrogen atoms are connected to each other, and an oxygen atom is attached to one of them.

Structure_of_the_nitrogen_oxide_(I) molecule

Moreover, a structural formula alone cannot be used here. There are as many as four structures that describe this molecule and each contribute to its present form (Fig.) There are no single, double or triple bonds; to be precise, the nitrogen-nitrogen bond has a multiplicity of 2.73, and the nitrogen-nitrogen bond oxygen -1.61. So one can only be amazed at how many complexities, subtleties and surprises can be hidden in just three atoms - or three signs of the N2O formula familiar from school.

Written for the magazine "Chemistry and Life"

Nitrogen(I) oxynitride (dinitrogen oxide, nitrous oxide, laughing gas) - a compound with the chemical formula N2O. At normal temperatures it is a colorless, non-flammable gas with a pleasant sweetish smell and taste. Sometimes called "laughing gas" because of the intoxicating effect it produces.

Nitrous oxide It has weak narcotic activity, and therefore it must be used in high concentrations.

Also nitrous oxide sometimes used to improve the performance of internal combustion engines. In automotive applications, a substance containing nitrous oxide and fuel are injected into the intake manifold of the engine, resulting in the following results:

reduces the temperature of the air sucked into the engine, providing a dense incoming charge of the mixture.
increases the oxygen content in the incoming charge (air contains only ~21 wt.% oxygen).
increases the speed (intensity) of combustion in the engine cylinders.

How can you get laughing gas at home?

Nitrous oxide does not cause respiratory irritation. Being dissolved in the blood plasma during inhalation, it practically does not change and is not metabolized, and does not bind to hemoglobin. After inhalation ceases, it is excreted (within 10-15 minutes) through the respiratory tract unchanged.

If you do try to make nitrous oxide at home or buy it, remember that inhaling N 2 O alone causes breathing to stop. Without knowing chemistry at 5+ you can get NO- a strong poison that affects the central nervous system and also causes blood damage due to the binding of hemoglobin. Nitric oxide also has relatively high toxicity (at concentrations above 0.05 mg/l). NO 2

Release form

In metal cylinders with a capacity of 10 liters under a pressure of 50 atm in a condensed (liquid) state. The cylinders are painted gray and labeled “For medical use.”