What is gas

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Particles in a gas are widely separated from each other. At low temperature and ordinary pressure, they resemble an "ideal gas" in which the interaction between the particles is negligible and collisions between them are completely elastic. At higher pressures, intermolecular bonds between gas particles have a greater effect on the properties. Because of the space between atoms or molecules, most gases are transparent. A few are faintly colored, such as chlorine and fluorine.

Gases tend not to react as much as other states of matter to electric and gravitational fields. Compared with liquids and solids, gases have low viscosity and low density. The word "gas" was coined by 17th-century Flemish chemist J. There are two theories about the origin of the word. One is that it is Helmont's phonetic transcription of the Greek word Chaos , with the g in Dutch pronounced like the ch in chaos.

Paracelsus's alchemical use of "chaos" referred to rarified water. The other theory is that van Helmont took the word from geist or gahst , which means spirit or ghost. A gas may contain electrically charged atoms or molecules called ions. In fact, it's common for regions of a gas to contain random, transient charged regions because of van der Waals forces.

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