Kaasuvat

Kaasuvat is a Finnish adjective meaning “in the gaseous state” or simply “gasous.” It is used in scientific contexts to describe substances that exist as a gas under specified conditions of temperature and pressure. The term is often contrasted with kiinteä (solid) and neste (liquid), reflecting the basic phases of matter.

In practice, kaasuvat aineet (gaseous substances) include the natural atmospheric gases such as nitrogen (typpi) and oxygen (happi), as well as volatile compounds that are gases at room temperature or under particular conditions. The concept is common in chemistry, physics, and engineering when discussing gas mixtures, gas streams, emissions, or reactions occurring in the gas phase. Phrases such as kaasuvat olomuodot or kaasuttaminen (gasification) appear in technical texts to describe processes where substances transition into or exist as gases.

The word is built from kaasu (gas) with the adjectival suffix -va, yielding kaasuva for singular forms and kaasuvat for plural or masculine/feminine contexts. The term reflects Finnish word formation patterns for describing properties and states of matter. Its etymology traces the borrowing kaasu from Swedish gas or French gaz, ultimately related to the broader international vocabulary for gases.

Kaasuvat appears primarily in scientific and technical writing. In everyday Finnish, people more commonly reference the state of matter directly (gas, solid, liquid) rather than the inflected adjective, except in compound phrases or formal descriptions. See also kaasu, olomuoto, kaasuttaminen.