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Home | Vehicles | Trucks, Suvs Basic chemistry and physics supply the answer. First, take a deep breath, hold it for a second, now let it out. Did you know the air you just inhaled was 78% nitrogen? Certainly you could tell that when you inhaled, couldn't you. That is the biggest myth buster of all in considering nitrogen versus air. Nitrogen already composes 78% of air. Only 21% of air is oxygen. The basic claim made by nitrogen supporters is that nitrogen will permeate through the tire slower than oxygen because it is a larger molecule. By slowing the pressure loss of the tire, nitrogen will allow your tires to maintain the proper pressure longer. The natural laws of physics don't support that contention. The rate of seepage of a gas through a porous membrane depends on it's mass and on it's size. Nitrogen and oxygen are almost the same size and nitrogen is slightly lighter than oxygen. If either gas is going to seep through the tire then the nitrogen would actually seep slightly faster than the oxygen. Consider this little bit of common logic. If oxygen did indeed permeate through a tire at a faster rate than nitrogen, then as the tire lost pressure mostly nitrogen would then be left in the tire. Let's assume at this point there is 90% nitrogen left in the tire. You then go to the station and top off your tires which are now filled with a high concentration of nitrogen. You add a small amount of air to the tire. Now you have much less oxygen in the tire than you did when you first inflated it. It has a much higher concentration of nitrogen. Continuing this train of thought, if the nitrogen does continue to behave the same way, the smaller amount of oxygen now in the tire escapes from the tire and the nitrogen that remains behind becomes even more concentrated. Maybe you now have 95% nitrogen in your tires. As you continually repeat this process many times, you continue to get higher and higher concentrations of nitrogen in your tires. Eventually you will end up with only nitrogen. The question is, if eventually you would end up with nitrogen filled tires by just repeatedly filling them with air, why would you fill them with nitrogen to begin with and spend the more money? It just doesn't make sense. This is just a common sense answer as to why the claims of nitrogen being a significant factor in reducing gas consumption just don't hold up. There many more specific scientific answers as to why the nitrogen claims are false. Most of them are way to complicated to try and explain in one short article. In the end it seems you are seeing the one law of physics that seems to manifest itself over and over. Once again there are those who take advantage of a problem to make a profit. To whom is there an advantage to filling tires up with nitrogen? The companies selling the nitrogen producing equipment and the retailers who sell the nitrogen itself. They make more profits. Who comes out with the short end of the stick? That' right, it's you and me. Article Source: http://www.articlewheel.com
Scott Siegel is the author of a 143 page book of automotive industry insider secrets on saving gas and money at the pump (beatthegaspump.com). Visit us to learn how you can get better gas mileage. Find out how to increase gas mileage.
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