Phantom Posted November 30, 2005 Share Posted November 30, 2005 I was talking with a couple engineers today and was asked how many cubic inches are in a gallon. It was needed for a detail on a project we were working on. They were after a calculator to compute it when I said: "Well - there's 1728 cubic inches in a cubic foot and about 7.5 gallons in a cubic foot so there should be about about 230 cubic inches in a gallon". Well - it mathed out to an actual 231 cubic inches per gallon. Never underestimate a practiced estimate! Anyway, it suddenly dawned on me that I don't necessarily have a 5.7 liter or 346 ci engine in my car. It could actually be a 1.5 gallon or a 192 oz engine. Maybe I don't get 20 miles per gallon, but instead I may get 2.9 miles/lb of fuel or maybe12.5 miles/cubic foot of fuel. After all, it is all sort of relative. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gollum Posted November 30, 2005 Share Posted November 30, 2005 Why look at a triangle when you can look at a pyramid? Interesting way to look at it 8) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xander Posted November 30, 2005 Share Posted November 30, 2005 don't you just love the metric system Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trevor Posted November 30, 2005 Share Posted November 30, 2005 1 U.S. Gallon = 231 ci.... Hmmmm..... also the same displacement as the Buick 90° odd-fire V6, the Chevrolet 90° V6, and the Ford 90° V6. AKA 3.8L Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillZ260 Posted November 30, 2005 Share Posted November 30, 2005 Damn Engineers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrandonsZ Posted November 30, 2005 Share Posted November 30, 2005 I was talking with a couple engineers today and was asked how many cubic inches are in a gallon. It was needed for a detail on a project we were working on. They were after a calculator to compute it when I said: "Well - there's 1728 cubic inches in a cubic foot and about 7.5 gallons in a cubic foot so there should be about about 230 cubic inches in a gallon". Well - it mathed out to an actual 231 cubic inches per gallon. Never underestimate a practiced estimate!Anyway' date=' it suddenly dawned on me that I don't necessarily have a 5.7 liter or 346 ci engine in my car. It could actually be a 1.5 gallon or a 192 oz engine. Maybe I don't get 20 miles per gallon, but instead I may get 2.9 miles/lb of fuel or maybe12.5 miles/cubic foot of fuel. After all, it is all sort of relative.[/quote'] you only get 12.5 miles per cubic foot of gas? WOW that's on par with big-rigs! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom Posted December 1, 2005 Author Share Posted December 1, 2005 you only get 12.5 miles per cubic foot of gas? WOW that's on par with big-rigs! You caught me! Actually it should be about 150 miles per cubic ft. I guess that Quarts would probably be the best English measurement displacement unit since it is so commonly copared with liters. That would give me a 6 quart engine. Somehow sounds better and is more easily compared with a 5.7 liter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrandonsZ Posted December 1, 2005 Share Posted December 1, 2005 you only get 12.5 miles per cubic foot of gas? WOW that's on par with big-rigs! You caught me! Actually it should be about 150 miles per cubic ft. I guess that Quarts would probably be the best English measurement displacement unit since it is so commonly copared with liters. That would give me a 6 quart engine. Somehow sounds better and is more easily compared with a 5.7 liter. Just messing with you, I like "5,700cc" or "12 Pints (10 Pints UK)" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrayZee Posted December 1, 2005 Share Posted December 1, 2005 don't you just love the metric system yeah a cc (cubic centimeter) and a ml (mililiter) are the same thing. Nice and simple. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrandonsZ Posted December 2, 2005 Share Posted December 2, 2005 yeah a cc (cubic centimeter) and a ml (mililiter) are the same thing. Nice and simple. Some purists here still use English units and fall on their face every time they forget a conversion factor or miss something in the unit analysis on the simplest formulas, I refuse to use English units when working out formulas and why not use metric and then convert the answer to English as a last step anyway it's so much easier even with simple physics, but especially in energy equations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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