Like liquids, gasses also have the ability to flow and so they are called fluids too. However, unlike solids and liquids, gasses can be squeezed so that they take up less apace. A gas will always expand or shrink to completely fill the container that it is in. Because of this we say that they are compressible.

Gasses also resist flowing because of viscosity but it is much less noticeable than that of a fluid flowing at the same speed. However, if the flow of a gas is fast enough like at the speed of an airplane it can cause quite a large force.

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Last modified: Tue May 6 16:24:07 PDT 1997

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