Is fuel (gasoline) conductive?
why dosen't a (automotive) fuel pump cause an explosion inside an autos fuel tank when voltage is applied?
the pump is located in the tank and submerged in the fuel some of the time(full tank), some of the time it is exposed to the fumes in the tank when the tank is low. Also the wires that go to the pump are exposed to the fuel, meaning the fuel is in contact with the terminals of the pump. The wires are not sealed from the fuel.
The pump is not always submerged in the fuel as when the car is low on fuel !! And "if" the fuel is conductive, why dosen't it short out the EXPOSED terminal ends on the pump, and cause the pump to short circuit???
the voltage going to the pump is at least 12 volts dc with about 5 amps.
2006-12-03 01:56:07 · 3 answers · asked by chris 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Chemistry
The fuel pump is made from metal(carbon steel)
2006-12-03 02:27:15 · update #1
In order to burn you need an oxidant and a reductant. In most reactions the oxidant is oxygen, as in from the air. In a full or largely full gas tank you have almost no air, and even in a less-full gas tank, the gas vapors themselves would push-out most of the air (since they are heavier than the air it's easier for the air to leave than for them).
Gasoline, being a mixture of non-polar, uncharged compounds without lone-pairs is not conductive to electricity. It could be made conductive by dissolving non-polar salts in it (e.g. tetrabutylammonium salts), in which case it would become conductive, yet even then it would require the oxidant--air.
Most things that explode contain both the oxidant and the reductant in one package. Gunpowder and most common explosives contain oxygen-rich chemical groups so that you don't have to "wait" for the oxygen from the air.
2006-12-03 05:44:47 · answer #1 · answered by Some Body 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
the furl pump is make of non cundutive material and even if it wasnt the gas still wouldnt explode it need air and it has to be in vapor form. you ever heard of someone throwing a match into a full fuel tank yes it crazy sounding but it wont blow up now a half tank of gas has vapors so there for boom
2006-12-03 10:00:00 · answer #2 · answered by wofford1257 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Fuel (gasoline) is made of hydrocarbons such as isooctane. Hydrocarbons itself has no free electron, nor charges, so it is not condctive.
2006-12-03 10:04:42 · answer #3 · answered by myyahoo! 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋