Does gasoline really come from dead dinosaurs?
A likely theory on the origin of petroleum focuses on organic matter—mostly vegetable but some animal—decomposing under heavy pressure and the absence of air over millions of years. What is octane? The octane number or grade measures a gasoline’s ability to resist detonation and/or spontaneous ignition. The higher octane number, the more resistance to detonation. What is detonation? Also known as pinging or knocking, detonation occurs when there is abnormally high pressure in the cylinder, forcing the piston backward against its will on the compression stroke. A pre-ignition condition has a slightly different cause and more destructive results, but the knocking noise is the same. Both can lead to significant internal engine damage. Okay, what does the octane number mean? The original reference point came in the early 1900s when 87 octane gasoline was a blend of 87 percent iso-octane and 13 percent heptane. Gasoline formulas and octane rating methods have changed dramatically since. Now
