ccbrewster’s Recent Comments

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  Weighing a gas

  Gas is "weightless" only in the simple sense that a kid's balloon doesn't seem to have weight. But this is similar to a water balloon having no weight when you drop it in a swimming pool. The atmosphere is pressing down on the earth just as the oceans do, because of the gravitational attraction between the earth and these fluids. Add more gas to a pressurized tank, and the tank's weight increases. All molecules have mass, and therefore weight.On Umbra on calculating CO2 weight posted 1 year, 3 months ago 19 Responses

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  Where did that fuel go???

  Solar Greg makes a point similar to my thought here. Let's see-- I fill the gas tank in my car that gets 28 mpg, I drive 28 miles and... HEY, a gallon of gas is missing! Where the heck did it go? Oh that's right-- it went into the air! And it weighed something, didn't it? Solar Greg refines this startling observation to point out that the burning can make my original gallon weigh more than it did as a liquid. But start with the weight of the fuel because it all goes into the air.On Umbra on calculating CO2 weight posted 1 year, 3 months ago 19 Responses

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  Rail routes

  Umbra-- You say that we don't have the infrastructure to expand rail service, yet we do have many rail routes that are not currently being used for passenger service. I realize that passenger trains would be contending with freight on these routes, with the resulting Amtrak-style delays. Yet the tracks are there and could be used. In addition, many old rights-of-way are still physically intact even if the tracks are missing. These could be rebuilt fairly easily. Where I live (near Minneapolis) many train routes that are still in use for freight were once used also for commuter trains. I've never gotten a clear answer on why these commuter trains could not be revived. (And I believe the subsidies that may be needed would be far lower than the costs of freeways.)On Umbra on driving versus flying, again posted 1 year, 3 months ago 13 Responses