Compressed gas has many uses. It can be held in a tank like this with a valve that can be opened to safely release small amounts of gas at a time. The valve usually releases the gas into a tube through which it travels to another container. It is only safe to allow small amounts of compressed gas out at a time.
What is the most likely reason it is dangerous to break open a compressed gas tank?

A) Any gas would react with whatever air is around it to cause fire and electric bolts when released.
B) A gas would be at such a cold temperature when it is compressed that it would cause everything to freeze around it.
C) A compressed gas would expand very quickly if released uncontrollably and would hit nearby people or objects very hard.
D) Any compressed matter will change the shape of its container, so if the gas were released into a room, it would change the shape of the walls.

When a compressed gas is released from a tank, we are releasing the pressure or we are decreasing the pressure. With decrease in pressure, there will be increase in volume.

This relation is stated by Boyle's Law. This law states that pressure is inversely proportional to the volume of the gas at constant temperature and number of moles.

[tex]P\propto \frac{1}{V}[/tex]

When pressure increases, volume will decrease and vice-versa.

Hence, in this case, the volume will expand and the compressed tank will burst open when the pressure is released quickly and will hit any object or person nearby it.

Therefore, the correct answer is option C.