We've got an expert on our team of scientists that knows a lot about liquid nitrogen. Gord O., alias "The Professor" has been a fixture at Grant Halloween parties for a number of years. He gave us this answer to your question.

All substances, including nitrogen, have their own special temperature at which they will freeze, and their own special temperature where they will boil. Water, for example, will freeze at 0C and boil at 100C. Nitrogen will freeze at -250C and will boil at -170C.

So nitrogen, which is the most common gas in our atmosphere, will turn into a liquid if cooled down to -170C (this is pretty darn cold!) and will turn into a solid, that is, it will freeze, when it is cooled to -250C. You would only find this kind of temperature in a very special lab like at the National Research Council, NRC, or in space.

Answer #% % filename Document3 page% % page 1 of% % numpages 1 % % date \@ "MMMM d, yyyy"March 17, 1995