Volatile
Volatile
Walter Hohmann
<b>Volatile</b> is a word meaning, roughly, "temporary" or "fickle". It has specific meanings in several fields:<p>In <b>economics</b>: <ul> <li> <a href="Volatility">Volatility</a> is a measure of the risk in a financial instrument </ul><p>In <b>chemistry</b>, a volatile substance vapourises to a gas at a relatively low temperature: <ul> <li> <a href="Volatile organic compound">Volatile organic compounds</a> vapourise at normal temperatures and pressures <li> <a href="Volatile anaesthetic">Volatile anaesthetics</a> are a class of anaesthetics which vapourise easily <li> <a href="Inhalant">Volatile substance abuse</a> is the abuse of household inhalants containing volatile compounds <li> <a href="Essential oil">Volatile oil</a> is another name for "essential oil" <li> Volatile acidity is an unacceptably high level of acid or vinegar, in winemaking </ul><p>In <b>computer science</b>: <ul> <li> <a href="Volatile variable">Volatile variables</a> can be changed by external processes <li> <a href="Volatile storage">Volatile storage</a> holds items in memory only while power is on </ul>