We got Richard F. to answer this one for you.

"Gas" is short for gasoline. The word "gas" also means a vapour like air or steam or oxygen, but gasoline is not this kind of gas. Confusing, isn't it? We'll call it gasoline from now on. Gasoline is aliquid. It pours just like water. You can't drink it, though. It's poisonous. Also it burns very easily. The tiniest spark can set it on fire. It burns so fast it's like an explosion.

Gasoline is made from crude oil, which is found underground. Crude oil is a mixture of many different substances. It's a dark, gooey liquid. It is pumped up in oil wells and then sent to an oil refinery by pipelines and tanker ships. At the refinery, the crude oil is separated into many different useful parts. Some of these are used to make plastics, some are turned into heating oil, mineral oil or motor oil. The gooey parts are made into asphalt for making roads. One of the most useful parts is gasoline.

The gasoline is shipped by tanker truck to gas stations, where it is stored safely in a big underground tank. To put gas in your car, you have to put the nozzle of the gas pump into the filler pipe in your car, and then turn the gas pump on. The gas pump pumps the gasoline through a hose to the nozzle and into the car's gas tank. The gasoline goes through the hose just like water in a garden hose. In the car, the gasoline is kept safe in the car's gas tank. When the car is running, just enough gasoline is pumped through a small tube to the engine, where it is burned. The heat from the burning gasoline is used to make the car's engine go.

Thanks for your question Martin.