Does This Make Sense, by Gråulf

The greenies tell me that each 6 pound gallon of gasoline I burn in my motorcycle creates 19 pounds of Carbon Dioxide. Now, I am fairly gullible, but something about that statement just doesn’t sound right. Yes, I know the theory. When gasoline burns, the carbon and hydrogen separate. The hydrogen combines with oxygen to form water (H2O), and carbon combines with oxygen to form carbon dioxide (CO2). CO2 molecules with one carbon atom (atomic weight 12) and two oxygen atoms (atomic weight of 16 each). A carbon atom has a weight of 12, and each oxygen atom has a weight of 16, giving each single molecule of CO2 an atomic weight of 44. It still sounds wrong, because burning gasoline in a bucket is different from burning gasoline in an engine.

One of the few things I remember from my high school science classes is that “Matter cannot be created or destroyed. It can only be changed. Now, when I burn gasoline in my motorcycle I get exhaust. I also get heat, noise, motion, and fun. There is no atomic weight for fun, but heat and motion is hardly chopped liver, so a great part of the energy in that that gallon of gasoline has to be converted to heat and motion. Where does that energy come from if it is all going into making CO2? And, if CO2 is so heavy why isn’t it littering the ground, rather than floating around in the air?

No, the whole theory just doesn’t make sense. Now I am looking for giant plastic bags I can attach to the exhaust of my motorcycle to capture the exhaust from the bike while I burn a gallon of gasoline. So far I have been unable to find bags the right size. If I do, I predict the bags are more likely to float off, than to prove that a gallon of gasoline makes 19 pounds of CO2. Actually, I am a little worried the giant bags of CO2 might float off with me, and the motorcycle.

Gråulf.