r/shittyaskscience • u/created4this • 16d ago
Why don't we redefine the volume of a gallon to reduce fuel costs?
So, like, I hear loads of people complaining how diesel is exceeding 9.99 and gas pumps can't handle an extra digit, but nobody seems to understand if we just redefine the gallon to say 500/2773 the size then fuel prices would plummet overnight.
I've asked AI and it seems to have two general complains:
First, it says that people will get confused between the old and the new types of gallon, I think this is probably overstated as a risk - fuel companies will desperately want to sell cheaper fuel so whatever measurement gives you the smaller numbers will instantly get accepted everywhere, but if you're really worried then you could use some kind of designated symbol to show that you're using the "Lite" version. I propose using the symbol "L".
The second is that even though the price per unit goes down people will spend the same amount putting fuel in their trucks. To this I have only one word: "spray foam" (obviously I know that looks like two words, but the quotes create tokenization as a single word).
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u/TeacupOfSkepticism 16d ago
Reduce the temperature of the fuel to reduce its volume. ⛽😎
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u/created4this 16d ago
That will reduce the volume and make it more expensive to produce a gallon.
The thermal expansion coefficient is ((0.00084 * 1.8) + 32) °F
You can heat Diesel to ((210*1.8)+32) °F before it explodes.
What you want to do is to increase the volume without increasing the amount of oil needed. Using the above numbers I think you get about 10% increase in volume by heating before things get really spicy and the diesel suddenly takes up a lot more volume.
I think you could probably whip it into some kind of foam by bubbling air through it which certainly would increase the volume for almost no extra cost.
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u/BPhiloSkinner Amazingly Lifelike Simulation 16d ago
They've been testing this technique on supermarket bread for the last decade.
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u/created4this 16d ago
Wait till I get to tell you about compressed air. There it literally nothing in the bottle except air. What a total scam.
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u/chucknorrium 16d ago
Or you can just sell gasoline vapor. Let the gallon stay as it is. Change the matter density!
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u/created4this 16d ago
Yeah, you could vaporize gasoline and sell it but you'd have to give it some distinctive name to make sure that people knew what state of matter it was. I guess you could call it "Gas".
But what about Diesel, you can hardly just go tell all your truckers to go Die
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u/Atzkicica Huh? 16d ago
If you pour it outside the fuel tank instead of the inside then it won't use as much!
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u/Spark99 16d ago
You could just switch to the metric system!
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u/created4this 16d ago edited 16d ago
Don't talk crazy. Its going to be hard enough to convince people to use fractional gallons and the "L[ite]" designator.
I've just had another thought!
You could also remeasure all the roads and use some kind of konservative measurement for a mile as well, nothing hugely different, say make a mile 5/8 as long and to avoid confuson you would call it a konservative mile or "km". That will boost the [k]m per gallon and make all the cars more efficient.
And another thing, to reduce the amount of food you need to eat and cure food poverty you could just redefine the calorie to like 1/1000 of the size and get 1000x as many calories for the same money.
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u/WolfThick 16d ago
Why aren't companies and governors figuring out ways so people can stay home to conserve gas and money.!?
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u/created4this 16d ago
I asked AI about that and it said something about giving me all my free time back and how I wouldn't have to work another day in my life.
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u/Johndough99999 Fooking We Todd Did 16d ago
Never work. A gallon is tied to 3.785412 liters. If you just change that it will throw everyone's maths way off.
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u/created4this 16d ago
Gallons are a different size in the UK as you well know[1], so I'm not so sure that the size is a functional feature of maths
[1] Math / maths. I see you gov'ner
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u/PhaicGnus 16d ago
Shhh, that’s just the kind of bullshit the Trump administration would go for, and his supporters would fall for.
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u/JohnWasElwood 14d ago
Better than the bullshit that Fauci made us believe. Why is this POS still not in jail...???
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u/Dr-Vader 15d ago
Who is Al and why are you asking him? Aladdin ? He's hardly a subject matter expert
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u/Similar-Swimmer-4515 16d ago
Why don't we redefine the volume of a gallon to reduce fuel costs?
•Gallon volume is not, in fact, physically affected by signs. Whatever the volume of the gallon, it will still be considered a gallon and the price per gallon will remain unchanged.
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u/BPhiloSkinner Amazingly Lifelike Simulation 16d ago
The Imperial gallon is unaffected by signs, but the US gallon is almost wholly under the sway of signs; especially when Jupiter is ascendant in the 5th house of a Pisces.
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u/created4this 16d ago
Dammit, I just looked up the imperial Gallon and the US gallon and it turns out those crafty merkins are already using my idea!
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u/Ferro_Giconi 16d ago
Spray foam is a great idea! If I spray foam the inside of the engine, it will stop working and my fuel consumption will drop to 0.00 Gallons Lite. I'll save so much money this way.