Which statement correctly describes the ordering of events: Laughing gas versus ether?

Which statement correctly describes the ordering of events: Laughing gas versus ether?

• A. They were used in same year
• B. Ether before laughing gas
• C. Laughing gas before ether
• D. Laughing gas after 1700

Answer: (C)

The key idea is the sequence of when these anaesthetics were first used in surgery. Laughing gas, or nitrous oxide, was explored for medical use in the 1840s and was actually employed in dentistry by 1844. Ether was first demonstrated as a surgical anaesthetic a couple of years later, in 1846. Because nitrous oxide was used before ether, the correct statement is that laughing gas came before ether. The other options don’t fit because they misstate the timing (either saying they were used in the same year, or that ether came first, or that the event happened after 1700 without capturing the actual order).

The key idea is the sequence of when these anaesthetics were first used in surgery. Laughing gas, or nitrous oxide, was explored for medical use in the 1840s and was actually employed in dentistry by 1844. Ether was first demonstrated as a surgical anaesthetic a couple of years later, in 1846. Because nitrous oxide was used before ether, the correct statement is that laughing gas came before ether. The other options don’t fit because they misstate the timing (either saying they were used in the same year, or that ether came first, or that the event happened after 1700 without capturing the actual order).