Actually, the US uses the following formula to describe the octane rating of gasoline (R+M)/2.
The "R" stands for RON, the son of an Exxon/Mobil executive. He had a bit of an incontinence problem, so for some strange scientific reason, the lab boys decided to strain the gasoline through his knickers. (the "k" factor - an industry secret...) They would then compute how many parts per million of gasoline (ppm) would pass through in a predetermined time frame and they called that "Octane", a corruption of the German "Achtzehn" which means "18", which was Ron's age at the time... Now as Ron wore boxers, this was a rather high number, and the scientists and engineers were very happy...
Meanwhile, British Petroleum got "wind" of this, and decided to do the same. One of the exec's had a son named Monte, and although his bowels were normal, he only changed his knickers once each month. So he was selected to provide his knickers (the "k" factor - an industry secret) for the BP labs to use. They named their results MONTAGUE in his honor, but since he wore briefs rather than boxers, they were soon dismayed to find the ppm numbers were much lower. They found that MONTAGUE wouldn't fit on the little sticker they put on their petrol pumps, so they shortened it to "MON".
The people of Britain were so chagrined when they found that the Americans had higher ratings for their gasoline that a great hue and cry arose throughout the land. So the British Parliament sent an emmisary to meet with the US Congress to try to resolve this crisis. Since no one wanted to offend anybody (the beginnings of political correctness) they decided that they would make the tiny pump stickers in America a little bigger and put a bogus formula (RON+MONTE)/2 on all the gasoline pumps.
Everyone was happy, and today only a few select people realize that "the price of crude" does not refer to raw oil, but to the final step in the refining process.....
octane rating
