Octane rating facts for kids
The Octane rating is a measurement of how well fuels (gasoline is a kind of fuel) resist detonation.
Modern engines use high degrees of compression. They therefore need fuel that does not detonate easily. Such fuel has a higher octane rating.
The rating is done by comparing the fuel to the mixture of iso-octane and heptane that would detonate in the same way. Such a mixture of 90 percent iso-octane and 10 percent heptane has an octane rating of 90.
Gas is available with lower octane ratings in the US than in Europe.
See also
In Spanish: Número de octano para niños
All content from Kiddle encyclopedia articles (including the article images and facts) can be freely used under Attribution-ShareAlike license, unless stated otherwise. Cite this article:
Octane rating Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.