The average person probably has no idea what cracking is to begin with.
this post was submitted on 18 Sep 2026
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The average person probably has no idea what cracking is to begin with
How many non-industry people do you know that know what a long chain hydrocarbon is?
Probably not because it's extremely useless for 99% of people lol
Does the average person know that a stalagmite is mostly calcium carbonate?
Well no, why would they remember that? They've got to remember the chemical formula for one or two quartzes
I need that brain space for the Windows XP activation code
Of course
I knew both! AuDHD for the win.
Umm...what were we talking about again?
Just like how their government works, or what climate change is.
Like, people aren't actually dumb, but 1% of their attention on anything that they aren't paid to do can sure give that appearance.
Or that tooth plaque is calcium phosphate?
I think you mean tooth enamel, not plaque
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does that mean you could use a chunk of a stalagmite as a tums in a pinch? (I think that's what tums is maybe its a different calcium)
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No. Most people think you can throw a lit cigarette or lighter on it and it will go up instantly too because of movies. I think Die Hard 2 was the worst lol, he like threw a zippo in the puddle of her fuel and then it followed the plane in mid air to blow it up.
I don't think people know how octane level works either. I think they assume higher octane is easier to combust when it's the exact opposite.
Of all the media out there, action movies might be the worst for rotting brains. People can actually seperate porn or cartoons from reality.
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No. I'd guess a lot of people, who don't work with it, think diesel blows up, even.
What the basic kinds of petroleum are, and which vehicles they go in, is one of those things any reasonably educated person should know, but the majority of the population actually won't.
I don't know how easily it blows up, I'm too cool to turn around and watch the explosion
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I don't think they do. I'm a person that likes aviation and I never think about jet fuel.
Does the average person know that it costs $2500 in fuel to get a boeing 747 off the ground?
I would have guessed more, and I have a pilot license!
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The entire point of jet fuel is that it DOESN'T "blow up easily", though.
unlike gasoline, It actually takes quite a bit of effort to ignite avgas in it's liquid form because it's designed to be aerosolized before being ignited.
Avgas and jet fuel aren't the same thing. Avgas is leaded gasoline used in airplane engines. Jet fuel is specially formulated for use in turbines.
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I bet the average person knows it can't melt steel beams.
And the average person should also know that steel doesn't need to melt to lose a lot of it's load bearing capacity. At 500-600 Celsius, only 50% of steel strength remains.
Which, going right back around to jet engines, is why superalloys are a thing.
They aren't stronger or even more refractory than normal steel, just more expensive, but they don't soften at all until they're about to melt.
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Its high flash point also makes it hard to ignite making it safer than gasoline.
Damn, forgot my lighter...
*Pulls out electric baton
*Gas station explodes
From a comic by MoringMark about Knights of Guinevere characters
I knew, but only because I read a lot of cold war stories, and for war becomes hot stories. Running a jet on cooking kerosene was a plot point in one
I have since read about just engines and jet fuel
I don't work in that industry at all. I'm an IT systems analyst
Are we still doing 9/11
I did not know, I must confess. I know now. Knowledge is power.
Bro the average person doesn't even know you can compile software for different architectures.
They aren't gonna know about jet fuel which is almost as complex
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