Because of the large heat release, the catalytic action rapidly becomes secondary, as thermal autodecomposition becomes dominant. In the presence of a heated catalyst, NĢO will decompose exothermically into nitrogen and oxygen, at a temperature of approximately 1,070 ☏ (577 ☌).

Nitrous oxide also may be used in a monopropellant rocket. It also is notably used in amateur and high power rocketry with various plastics as the fuel. The combination of nitrous oxide with hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene fuel has been used by SpaceShipOne and others. Nitrous oxide has been the oxidiser of choice in several hybrid rocket designs (using solid fuel with a liquid or gaseous oxidiser). In a 1914 patent, American rocket pioneer Robert Goddard suggested nitrous oxide and gasoline as possible propellants for a liquid-fuelled rocket. Its high density and low storage pressure (when maintained at low temperature) enable it to be highly competitive with stored high-pressure gas systems. As a secondary benefit, it may be decomposed readily to form breathing air. It has advantages over other oxidisers in that it is much less toxic, and because of its stability at room temperature it is also easier to store and relatively safe to carry on a flight. Nitrous oxide may be used as an oxidiser in a rocket motor. Being the third most important long-lived greenhouse gas, nitrous oxide also substantially contributes to global warming. Global accounting of NĢO sources and sinks over the decade ending 2016 indicates that about 40% of the average 17 TgN/yr ( Teragrams of Nitrogen per year) of emissions originated from human activity, and shows that emissions growth chiefly came from expanding agriculture and industry sources within emerging economies. It is a major scavenger of stratospheric ozone, with an impact comparable to that of CFCs. Nitrous oxide's atmospheric concentration reached 333 parts per billion (ppb) in 2020, increasing at a rate of about 1 ppb annually. It is also used as an oxidiser in rocket propellants, and in motor racing to increase the power output of engines. It is on the World Health Organisation's List of Essential Medicines, the safest and most effective medicines needed in a health system. Its colloquial name 'laughing gas', coined by Humphry Davy, is due to the euphoric effects upon inhaling it, a property that has led to its recreational use as a dissociative anaesthetic. Nitrous oxide has significant medical uses, especially in surgery and dentistry, for its anaesthetic and pain reducing effects. At elevated temperatures, nitrous oxide is a powerful oxidiser similar to molecular oxygen. At room temperature, it is a colourless non-flammable gas, with a slight metallic scent and taste. Nitrous oxide, commonly known as laughing gas, nitrous, or nos, is a chemical compound, an oxide of nitrogen with the formula NĢO.

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