mmm@weitek.UUCP (Mark Thorson) (09/22/85)
My organic chemistry professor in college (J. Cason) was assigned to study octane during the war. What his group did was synthesize gallons of all the octanes (note: not octenes, there'd be hundreds of those) and run them in an engine. They found that octane ratings correlated to the molecular structure. Highly branched octanes have more ends for combustion to initiate on than straight chains or rings. The energy contained within the same weight of one octane will be the same as any other, but I suppose the mass density (hence energy density) may vary slightly. Mark Thorson (...!cae780!weitek!mmm)