Chemistry 101
Water is a polar molecule. Water looks sort of like: H | H-O Hydrocarbons, of which gasoline is an example, are non-polar. Hydrocarbons look like: H H H | | | H-C-C-C-H | | | H H H Alcohols are polar on one end and non-polar one the other end like: H H | | H-C-C-O-H | | H H Since alcohols look like water on one end and hydrocarbons on the other, alcohol will mix with either. If you have a lot of gasoline (hopefully the norm) with (say) 15% alcohol and no water, the alcohol will go into solution with the gasoline completely. If you add a small amount of water to the mix, the water will join with the alcohol and go into solution also. (This is how dry-gas works). However, if the amount of water is large compared to the amount of alcohol, the alcohol comes out of solution with the gasoline and goes into solution with the water. John Cooper Skyport Services 4996 Delaware Tnpk Rensselaerville, NY 12147 518 797-3064 www.skyportservices.net
