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Date:         Thu, 27 Apr 1995 14:19:58 -0400 (EDT)
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         sstones <sstones@io.org>
Subject:      RE: Octane ratings

On Wed, 26 Apr 1995 7039ckrah@umbsky.cc.umb.edu wrote:

> Exactly - what is meant by "octane". Come on you organic chemists - > fill me (us) in. > > christian >

Well, like Methane, Ethane, Propane... Octane is a hydrocarbon. Meth, Eth, and Pro all denote the number of Hydros attached to the carbons (I think Pro is four) Oct is eight... Just like an Octopus has eight cats... or does it eat cats? Anyway, the octane is more resistant to burning than the gasoline, (gasoline is another ___ane, I don't know which, I passed that class and forgot everything) therefore, the higher the octane, the slower the fuel will burn off. This allows the timing to be advanced further which in turn allows the flame to be spread throughout more of the combustion chamber at TDC, providing better performance.

Now, I beleive everything I've just said is true (save for the Octopi) but am no where near sure of any of it... So if anyone knows better, please correct me, please don't flame me... Puttin on my asbestos snowpants anyways.

Cheers

<sstones@io.org> SStones Toronto, Ontario.


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