We can express the amount of each substance as a ratio, or percent, of the sum of all the other substances. For additional information, click on burner thermodynamics and specific thrust . This means that 17 ounces of jet fuel are required to be mixed with 1000 ounces of air in order for the jet engine to operate. In this exercise we will investigate the ratio of the volume of fuel and air combined in an engine. This problem will be a little more complicated, because fuel and air normally exist as different states of matter.
Fuel is normally a liquid, while air is a gas.
Most of you probably have at least a vague idea of the size of container needed to hold 17 ounces of water. To solve the problem, use the density of both air and jet fuel. Density is the ratio of the mass to the volume of any substance. The density of many liquids can be found in textbooks and is usually referenced to the density of water. The density of the air changes with altitude.