[AT] AT Digest, Vol 39, Issue 6 cylinder Chevrolet

[David Bruce]

And then there was my Physical Chemistry Prof's definition of entropy:
"Things get more screwed up every day".
David
NW NC

Larry D Goss wrote:
> You're right, George.  The last I knew, neither the laws of physics nor the 
> laws of thermodynamics have been repealed.  There are a few things that work 
> to reduce gas consumption -- decrease the mass that's being moved, decrease 
> the rolling resistance, decrease the wind resistance, decrease the auxiliary 
> power requirements, decrease the acceleration and deceleration, and decrease 
> the amount you drive.  Almost everything else is wishful thinking.
>
> A gallon of -- whatever you want to burn -- contains a given amount of 
> energy.  The closer you can come to perfect energy conversion, the better 
> mileage you get.  Most vehicles are doing well to get around 10% to 12% of 
> the total energy out of the fuel.  The rest is lost.  Some can be accounted 
> for because of friction and other phenomena, but there is always that big 
> bugaboo called Entropy.
>
> This brings to mind the "layman's" version of the Laws of Thermodynamics:
> 1) You can't win.
> 2) You can't break even.
> 3) You can't get out of the game!
>
> Still, it would be nice to look at the article from "Look" again.  They did 
> a fairly credible job of maximizing the mileage in that old car.
>
> Larry
>
>   
>