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.