Gasoline
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Gasoline or petrol is a petrochemical product, a transparent, yellowish and flammable liquid normally used as a fuel for spark-ignited internal combustion engines. It is chemically composed of organic
Gasoline in a glass jar
A pumpjack in the United States
An oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico
A Shell station in Hiroshima, Japan
Octane rating
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An octane rating, or octane number, is a standard measure of a fuel's ability to withstand compression in an internal combustion engine without causing engine knocking. The higher the octane number, t
Gasoline
…of a particular gasoline blend to resist premature ignition (which causes knocking and reduces efficiency in reciprocating engines) is measured by its octane rating or performance number. Tetraethyl lead was once widely used to increase the octane rating but is not used in modern automotive gasoline due to the…
A US gasoline pump offering five different octane ratings
Gas stations have gasoline with different octane ratings. Higher numbers indicate that the fuel can better avoid unintended combustions within the cylinders of the engine.
A 1940s US propaganda poster using the term "octane" to emphasise power