Nitrous oxide, also known as dinitrogen oxide or dinitrogen monoxide, is a chemical compound with chemical formula N2O. Under room conditions, it is a colourless non-flammable gas, with a pleasant, slightly-sweet odor. It is used in surgery and dentistry for its anaesthetic and analgesic effects, where it is commonly known as laughing gas due to the euphoric effects of inhaling it. It is also used as an oxidizer in internal combustion engines. In this use it is known as nitrous, or NOS. Nitrous oxide is present in the atmosphere where it acts as a powerful greenhouse gas.

History of Nitrous Oxide
The gas was discovered by Joseph Priestley in 1772. Humphry Davy in the 1790s tested the gas on himself and some of his friends, including the poets Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Robert Southey. They soon realised that nitrous oxide considerably dulled the sensation of pain, even if the inhaler were still semi-conscious. And so it came into use as an anaesthetic, particularly by dentists, who do not typically have access to the services of an anesthesiologist and who may benefit from a patient who can respond to verbal commands.

Nitrous Oxide Cream Chargers
A whipped cream charger is a cartridge designed to deliver nitrous oxide in a whipped cream dispenser. The contents can be inhaled for their hallucinogenic effects, as nitrous oxide is a dissociative drug. Chargers are sometimes called whippits (sometimes spelled whip-its or whippets) by users, although we at the NOS Shop just call them chargers. Name brand chargers such as Best Whip, Liss, iSi are considered to be the best quality chargers for gourmet and other use, due to their strict manufacturing procedures and repeated cleanings during manufacture (to prevent toxic machining oils from remaining in the charger).
Whipped cream chargers are steel cylinders rounded at one end with a narrow tip at the other. They are typically painted silver, lavender or blue and nominally 6.3 cm (2.5 inches) long and 1.8 cm (0.7 inches) wide. The chargers' walls are about 2 mm (about 1/16 inch) thick to withstand the great pressure of the gas contained within. Their interior volume is 10 cm3 and most brands contain 8g of N2O under pressure. Used chargers are non-refillable but 100% recyclable, where steel recycling programs exist.

Culinary use Of Nitrous Oxide
To use a whipped cream dispenser, you start by adding your cream (best to use heavy/ uk double) cream and any flavourings/colourings as desired into your dispenser bottle.  Pop the head unit/ top back onto the dispenser bottle and discharge one or two chargers into the unit depending on its size (only the 1lt dispensers require 2x 8g chargers or if it's the 16g system then only 1x 16g charger). These pressurize the
dispenser with nitrous oxide and cause the fat-soluble gas to dissolve into the cream, just like carbon dioxide dissolves into water to create soda water. Shaking the dispenser a few times helps the gas dissolve. The dispenser is then ready for use. When the cream dispenser's valve is opened, the cream is forced out of the nozzle by the high pressure. However, when the pressure is released, the dissolved gas turns to bubbles and comes out of the solution - just like how opening a soda bottle results in the formation of a head of bubbles. These expanding bubbles instantly transform the cream into a frothy,
whipped state.
Nitrous oxide is bacteriostatic (prevents bacteria from growing) and a charged cream dispenser can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
Cheaper brands of whipped cream chargers contain less gas, usually requiring the cream whipper's operator to use two chargers where one would normally suffice. Cheaper brands  also may not be as clean inside after being filled and sealed, resulting in toxic oil mists being sprayed into the cream (or recreational users' lungs) when the charger is opened and depressurized. EZ-Whip brand chargers are notorious for machining oil contamination and should be avoided for any use.

Chargers are designed to be opened with a device that punctures the thin metal seal at the narrow end of the tube; Whipped cream dispensers have this integrated into the device's head unit.

Model rocketry use
Chargers can be used as a cheap source of nitrous oxide for small, powerful model rockets. Nitrous oxide breaks down into nitrogen and oxygen at elevated temperatures, such as those found in automotive and rocket engines. It greatly improves combustion by making more oxygen available to the combustion process. Model rockets designed to be assisted with whipped cream chargers can thus fly much higher and faster than conventional designs of the same size.

Inhalant effects - laughing gas
Nitrous oxide (N2O) is a dissociative that can cause analgesia, euphoria, dizziness, flanging of sound and in some cases, slight hallucinations and mild aphrodisiac effect. It can also result in mild nausea or lingering dizziness if too much is inhaled in too short a time. During the 19th century, William James and many contemporaries found that inhalation of nitrous oxide resulted in a powerful spiritual and mystical experience for the user. James claimed to experience the fusing of dichotomies into a unity and a revelation of ultimate truth during the inhalation of nitrous oxide. Memory of this experience, however, quickly faded and any attempt to communicate was difficult at best.
The recreational use of nitrous oxide is restricted in many districts is the US. In California,  for instance, inhalation of nitrous oxide "for the purpose of causing euphoria, or for the  purpose of changing in any manner one’s mental processes," is a criminal offense under its  criminal code (Cal. Pen. Code, Sec 381b).

Since nitrous oxide can cause dizziness, dissociation and temporary loss of motor control, it is unsafe to inhale while standing up. Inhalation directly from a tank poses serious health risks, as it can cause the lungs to collapse from high levels of pressure, forcing air into the chest cavity, and can cause frostbite since the gas is very cold when released. For those reasons, most recreational users will discharge the gas into a balloon before inhaling.
While the pure gas itself is not toxic, death can result if it is inhaled in such a way that not enough oxygen is breathed in. Long-term use in large quantities has been associated with dangerous symptoms similar to vitamin B12 deficiency: anemia due to reduced hemopoiesis, neuropathy, tinnitus and numbness in extremities. In chronic use it is also teratogenic and foetotoxic. It can be habit-forming, mainly because of its short-lived effect (generally from 1 - 5 minutes in recreational doses) and ease of access. Inhaling industrial-grade nitrous oxide is also dangerous, as it contains many impurities and is not intended for use on humans.
Finally, nitrous oxide should not be confused with nitric oxide, an extremely poisonous gas.

Toxicity
Use of nitrous oxide for prolonged periods results in inhibition of the enzyme methionine synthase which is involved in protein synthesis, causing changes in bone marrow after as short a time as 3-4 hours. The enzyme is very important, as methionine, an amino acid, it helps produce is the starting amino acid for all proteins synthesised. This is a direct result of irreversibly oxidising the Colbalt II up to the III state in the Vitamin B12, a cofactor in the methionine synthase. Furthermore the enzyme cannot displace the oxidised B12, so the only regeneration possible is de-novo synthesis of new enzyme, in the presence of fresh,
intact B12. Prolonged exposure to nitrous oxide may cause agranulocytosis, as well as leading to increased plasma concentrations of Homocysteine which has been implicated as a risk factor for peri-operative myocardial ischemia.

Aerosol propellant
The gas is licensed for use as a food additive, specifically as an aerosol spray propellant. Its most common uses in this context are in aerosol whipped cream canisters and as an inert gas used to displace staleness-inducing oxygen when filling packages of crisps and other similar snack foods. The gas is extremely soluble in fatty compounds. In aerosol whipped cream, it is dissolved in the fatty cream until it leaves the can, when it becomes gaseous and thus creates foam.

Rocket motors
Nitrous oxide can be used as an oxidizer in a rocket engine. This has the advantages over other oxidizers that it is non-toxic and, due to its stability at room temperature, easy to store and relatively safe to carry on a flight. Nitrous oxide has been the oxidizer of choice in several hybrid rocket designs (using solid with a liquid or gaseous oxidizer). The combination of nitrous oxide with hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene fuel has been used by Spaceship One and others. It is also notably used in amateur and high power rocketry with various plastics as the fuel. An episode of MythBusters featured a hybrid rocket built using paraffin wax mixed with powdered carbon as its solid fuel and nitrous oxide as its oxidizer.

Internal combustion engine
In car racing, nitrous oxide (often just "nitrous" in this context) is sometimes injected into the intake manifold (or just prior to the intake manifold) to increase power: even though the gas itself is not flammable, it delivers more oxygen than atmospheric air by breaking down at elevated temperatures, thus allowing the engine to burn more fuel and air. Additionally, since nitrous oxide is stored as a liquid, the evaporation of liquid nitrous oxide in the intake manifold causes a large drop in intake charge temperature. This results in a smaller, denser charge, and can reduce detonation, as well as increase power available to the engine.
The same technique was used during by WWII Luftwaffe aircraft with the GM1 system to boost the power output of aircrafts engines. Originally meant to provide the Luftwaffe standard aircraft with superior high-altitude performance, technological considerations limited its use to extremely high altitudes. Accordingly, it was only used by specialized planes like high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft, high-speed bombers and high-altitude interceptors.
One of the major problems of using nitrous oxide in a reciprocating engine is that it can produce enough power to destroy the engine. Power increases of 100-300% are possible, and unless the mechanical structure of the engine is reinforced, most engines would not survive this kind of operation.

There are several ways of introducing nitrous into a motor. Nitrous kits offer different solutions. You will find Dry kits, Wet kits & Direct port.
It is very important with nitrous oxide augmentation of internal combustion engines to maintain temperatures and fuel levels so as to prevent preignition, or detonation (sometimes referred to as knocking or pinging). Technically detonation—in internal combustion engines occurs when fuel/air mixture in the cylinder has been ignited by the spark plug and the smooth burning is interrupted by the unburned mixture in the combustion chamber exploding before the flame front can reach it. Combusting stops suddenly, because of the explosion, before the optimum moment of the four stoke cycle. The resulting shockwave reverberates in the combustion chamber and pressures increase catastrophically, creating a characteristic metallic "pinging" sound.

Hazards
The major safety hazards of nitrous oxide come from the fact that it is a compressed liquefied gas, and a dissociative anaesthetic. While normally inert in storage and fairly safe to handle, nitrous oxide can decompose energetically and potentially detonate if initiated under the wrong circumstances. Liquid nitrous oxide acts a good solvent for many organic compounds; liquid mixtures can form somewhat sensitive explosives. Contamination with fuels has been implicated in a handful of rocketry accidents, where small quantities of nitrous / fuel mixtures detonated, triggering the explosive decomposition of residual nitrous oxide in plumbing.