In cryptocurrencies, especially on Ethereum-based platforms and blockchains, the term "Gas" refers to a unit of measurement that quantifies the amount of computational work required to perform a given action or transaction on the network.
When someone performs an operation on the Ethereum network, such as sending funds, executing a smart contract or interacting with a decentralized application (DApp), this action requires computational resources to be processed. Gas is used to measure this amount of resources.
Every operation on the Ethereum network has a cost in terms of Gas, and that cost is paid in Ether (ETH), the network's native cryptocurrency. The more complex the operation, the more computational resources it will require and, therefore, the greater the Gas consumption and the Ether cost.
Users can set the Gas price they are willing to pay per unit of computational work, and this will influence how quickly the transaction is processed by miners. If the Gas price is too low, the transaction may take longer to be included in a block; if it is too high, it can make the transaction more expensive than necessary.
The concept of Gas is a way to ensure that the Ethereum network works efficiently and securely, preventing resource abuse and denial of service (DDoS) attacks. Therefore, it is essential to understand and properly adjust the Gas price when transacting or interacting with smart contracts on the Ethereum network.