It wouldn't be my first thought to think..... Hey, I bet my $40,000 truck would run a lot better if I poured some alcohol in the tank!

 

nah it wouldnt burn up... lol the new ethanol fuels give u worse gas milage and poor performance but produce less emissions. i stay away from them. i ping and bog like crap with that ethanol blended crap in there. just characteristics of alcohol evaporation and if ur truck sets with the fuel in there for a day or so all the alcohol evaporates and your stuck with a low octane fuel grade in there and the only reason your mpg wil go up is if u burn it up in one day. your mpg will go up but not miles per tank if u understand that. so i do my best to stay away from fueling stations with additives and ethanol blends.

 

 

 

Except water in rubbing alcohol isn't the same as plain tap water. Yes, it's the same stuff but it's chemically mixed with the alcohol. It's not like putting sugar in tea either. It dissolves into the tea, but if you left it out the sugar and tea bits would remain after the water seperates and evaporates. If you left some rubbing alcohol out it would be completely gone, nothing would be left behind. The water is bonded on a molecular level.

So by that logic vodka, which is about 40% alcohol and almost all the rest water shouldn't burn. But it does. Why doesn't all the water prevent ignition? It's bonded to the alcohol particles, altering it's reactive properties. "Drygas" products are almost always some form of alcohol, ethanol, or both. Rubbing alcohol is a homogeneous solution (remember high school chemistry?). Meaning it can't be seperated by ordinary physical means. Since alcohol particles readily bond with water, they will also bond with water in the gas tank. Unless there's a chitload of water in there, a little alcohol can bond with a lot more water and still be combustible(might cause chitty performance). Yes, leaving it in there for a long time will cause the alcohol to evaporate out, but it will take the water with it. Alcohol in an intensely endothermic substance so it wouldn't take much to make it vaporize at all. After all, vodka is bonded roughly 40/60 with water, more than 1/3 more water than alcohol and still burns excellently.

But how do people get water in car gas tanks? Boats, sleds, that's one thing. but cars? Maybe driving around in the rain with the gas door open and cap left on top of the station's pump?

 

Isopropanol is the proper chemical name for what is commonly known as isopropyl alcohol. It can be found in an almost pure state, about 99% IIRC. Generally it is around 50%-60% or less. In its more pure form it does not contain any H2O, it may contain an oxygen atom and at least two hydrogen atoms, but not bonded as H2O. Isopropanol (C3OH8) is simply propane (C3H8) that has one hydrogen atom replaced with an OH group, the hydrogen atom was bonded to one carbon atom and now the OH group is bonded to one carbon atom. This has nothing to do with water. If you believe it does, try drinking hydrogen peroxide (H2O2).
In its less that pure forms, I’m sure there is some H2O present in the dilution.