Nitrous Oxide is a liquid containing two parts nitrogen and one part oxygen. It is the oxygen in Nitrous that we are after. The oxygen is released from the nitrogen when it is heated, and turns from a liquid to a gas. In a properly designed Nitrous system, additional fuel is added to make use of all the additional oxygen. This is where the additional power comes from. This is also where the additional risk comes from. If the correct amount of additional fuel is not added, the motor will lean out and start to melt parts.