[TheForge] Re: fire piston

[Demon Buddha]

Daniel T. Hayes wrote:
> Actually, the "T" in the Ideal Gal Law is absolute temperature (i.e. Kelvin
> or Rankine). 70 Farenheit = 528.67 Rankine. Compressed adiabatically 15:1,
> the air temperature would go up to 7930 Rankine or 7471 Farenheit.

	this may be so.  I've not studied the idea gas equations since...well, 
forever.  But remember that real world air isn't an ideal gas.  There 
are losses.

However, my calculations were still off.  It seems the temperature 
should be about 2313*F.  That's pretty amazing.  I'm not sure how you 
got 7471*F, though.  Even with losses I am not sure there would be that 
much difference in temperature.  Adiabatic heat comes solely from the 
effects of compression of the medium (air). Anything at 7400*F would be 
emitting actinic light (e.g. UV).  I suppose this is possible, but it 
doesn't seem right to me.  Could you elaborate?