Gases

Gas is one of the four fundamental states of matter (the others being solid, liquid, and plasma). A pure gas may be made up of individual atoms (e.g. a noble gas like neon), elemental molecules made from one type of atom (e.g. oxygen), or compound molecules made from a variety of atoms (e.g. carbon dioxide). A gas mixture would contain a variety of pure gases much like the air. What distinguishes a gas from liquids and solids is the vast separation of the individual gas particles. This separation usually makes a colorless gas invisible to the human observer. The interaction of gas particles in the presence of electric and gravitational fields are considered negligible as indicated by the constant velocity vectors in the image. One type of commonly known gas is steam.

The gaseous state of matter is found between the liquid and plasma states, the latter of which provides the upper temperature boundary for gases. Bounding the lower end of the temperature scale lie degenerative quantum gases which are gaining increasing attention. High-density atomic gases super cooled to incredibly low temperatures are classified by their statistical behavior as either a Bose gas or a Fermi gas. For a comprehensive listing of these exotic states of matter see list of states of matter.

The only chemical elements which are stable multi atom homonuclear molecules at standard temperature and pressure (STP), are hydrogen (H₂), nitrogen (N₂) and oxygen (O₂); plus two halogens, fluorine (F₂) and chlorine (Cl₂). These gases, when grouped together with the monatomic noble gases; which are helium (He), neon (Ne), argon (Ar), krypton (Kr), xenon (Xe) and radon (Rn) ; are called "elemental gases". Alternatively they are sometimes known as "molecular gases" to distinguish them from molecules that are also chemical compounds.

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