Look up volatile in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Volatile means changing or changeable. It can refer to: "something likely to cause trouble" In general:

• Volatility, a measure of instability

In economics:

• Volatility (finance), a measure of the risk in a financial instrument

In chemistry:

• Volatility (chemistry), a measure of the tendency of a substance to vaporize. It has also been defined as a measure of how readily a substance vaporizes.
• Volatiles, a group of compounds with low boiling points that are associated with a planet's or moon's crust and/or atmosphere
• Volatile organic compounds, organic compounds that can evaporate at normal temperature and pressure, and are often regulated by governments
• Volatile anaesthetics, a class of anaesthetics which evaporate easily
• Volatile substance abuse, the abuse of household inhalants containing volatile compounds
• Volatile oil, also known as essential oil, an oil derived from plants with aromatic compounds used in cosmetics and flavoring
• Volatile acidity, a term used in winemaking to indicate an unacceptably high level of acid or vinegar and baking soda.

In computer science:

• Volatile variables, variables that can be changed by an external process
• Volatile memory, memory that lasts only while the power is on (and thus would be lost after a restart)

In geology:

• Volatiles, the volatile compounds of magma (mostly water vapor) that affect the appearance and strength of volcanoes

In the mathematical theory of probability:

• Stochastic volatility

Other uses:

• Volatile Games, a video games maker