Certain universal questions pop up over and over, like “Why is there something, when there could be nothing?” or “Can a jet fly faster than its own exhaust velocity?” Let’s look at the second one; I’ll get back to the first in a future column.
Reciprocating engines inhale about 15 pounds of air for every pound of fuel they burn. This is the so-called “stoichiometric ratio” — the ratio at which every oxygen molecule in the air gets combined with a hydrocarbon molecule in the fuel, leaving no unconsumed oxygen or fuel at the end. Chemically combining the oxygen and fuel releases energy in the form of heat — which makes the engine go — as well as, in the ideal case, just carbon dioxide and water.
