The Truth About Nitrogen and Saving Gas
Using nitrogen as a way to save gas seems to be gaining some popularity. It is used as an alternative to air in filling tires . The simple fact that retailers such as Costco are now offering nitrogen for your tires certainly suggests that the notion is becoming more mainstream. Air is free. Nitrogen costs almost $10 per tire at many retailers. Is nitrogen worth the extra expense? Here are some answers.
Let's start with a basic principle. Inhale...., now let it out. The breath you just took was 78% nitrogen. Of course you could tell that when you took that breath, couldn't you. That is the biggest problem with the assertion that nitrogen is better than air. 78% of the air is already nitrogen!
The big claim made by nitrogen believers is that nitrogen will save gas by keeping your tires at the optimum pressure level. They suggest that nitrogen permeates from your tires slower than oxygen. The pressure loss of the tire is less over time because the nitrogen is staying in the tire 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.
Think about this for a minute. If oxygen actually permeated out of a tire faster than nitrogen, then as the tire deflated what would be left in the tire would be mostly nitrogen. Let's say there was 90% nitrogen left in the tire.
You then go to the station and top your tires off with air to bring them back to the proper pressure. Now you have almost all nitrogen in the tire that you added a small amount of air to. At that point you would have much less oxygen in the tire than you did when you first inflated it.
Assuming that the oxygen continues to leave the tire and the nitrogen remains you would have an even higher percentage of nitrogen in your tires. Maybe 95%. As you repeated this over and over you would eventually have nothing but nitrogen in your tire.
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 plain logical example as to how false the nitrogen claims are. There of course are a myriad of specific scientific answers showing why the nitrogen claims are based on myths and not scientific facts. Each one would require a separate article in itself to explain. In the end it seems you are seeing the single law of behavior that seems to play itself over and over.
Once again there are those who are taking advantage of a situation to make a buck. Who finds an advantage to filling tires up with nitrogen? Those selling the equipment and those retailing the nitrogen. They earn more profits. Who gets the short end of the stick? That' right, it's the consumer.
Scott Siegel has written a 143 page book of industry insider information on saving gas and money at the pump (beatthegaspump.com). Visit us to discover how you can get better gas mileage. Find out how to increase gas mileage.
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