WEBVTT - How does nitrous oxide help an engine perform better?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff from how stuff works dot com,

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<v Speaker 1>where smart happens Him Marshall Brain with today's question, how

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<v Speaker 1>does nitrous oxide help an engine perform better? It turns

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<v Speaker 1>out that nitrous oxide is a great source of oxygen.

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<v Speaker 1>When you heat nitrous oxide to about five seventy degrees fahrenheit,

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<v Speaker 1>it splits into oxygen and nitrogen. So the injection of

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<v Speaker 1>nitrous oxide into an engine means that more oxygen is

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<v Speaker 1>available during combustion. Because you have more oxygen, you can

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<v Speaker 1>also inject more fuel, allowing the same engine to produce

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<v Speaker 1>more power. Nitrous Oxide is one of the simplest ways

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<v Speaker 1>to provide a significant horsepower boost to any gasoline engine.

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<v Speaker 1>Nitrous oxide has another effect that improves performance even more.

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<v Speaker 1>When it vaporizes, nitrous oxide provides a significant cooling effect

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<v Speaker 1>on the intake air. When you reduce the intake air temperature,

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<v Speaker 1>you increase the air's density, and this provides even more

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<v Speaker 1>oxygen inside the cylinder. The only problem with nitrous oxide

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<v Speaker 1>is that it's fairly bulky and the engine needs a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of it. Like any gas, it takes up a

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<v Speaker 1>fair amount of space even when compressed into a liquid.

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<v Speaker 1>A five liter engine running at four thousand rotations per

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<v Speaker 1>minute consumes about ten thousand liters of air every minute,

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<v Speaker 1>compared to about point two liters of gasoline, so it

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<v Speaker 1>would take a tremendous amount of nitrous oxide to run

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<v Speaker 1>a car continuously. Therefore, a car normally carries only a

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<v Speaker 1>few minutes of nitrous oxide, and the driver uses it

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<v Speaker 1>very selectively by pushing a button. Be sure to check

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