Check out some vapor pressure calculations, warm air holds a lot of moisture. (To be clear, if any moisture is available, warm air holds more than cold air), When it goes below freezing it will really dry out. I'm just saying that colder air is more dense due to less molecular activity (warm air rises, cold air sinks), has more oxygen (and nitrogen) because there is less humidity to take up some of the volume. Any humidity in the air also keeps down max temps in the combustion chamber as well. Really, engines run better with cold air intakes, too bad the rest of the vehicle can't take advantage of it.
cold air=less mpg?
- Thread starter digitaldrifter91
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Interesting point. The basic equation for pressure in a cylinder is PV = nRT. So more moisture in the air increases n the number of the moles, increasing P the pressure. This is the principle of water injection.
Correctimundo!!! Water Injection is a familiar term to racers and old fighter pilots. It's a way to get some add'l power out of that IC engine. The water vaporizes (huge increase in volume), which adds to the expansion due to fuel combustion,,,increasing pressure even more..
Doesn't help with efficiency, but helps get you down the road (or away from the OTHER old fighter pilot) even faster..
Doesn't help with efficiency, but helps get you down the road (or away from the OTHER old fighter pilot) even faster..
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