I'm having some issues here with the scale. With "For scale, that's a 330-mL energy drink", do they mean that it has a diameter of around 13 cm or what?
Also, aren't energy drink cans larger than coke cans? I haven't had a can in front of me for years, so using cm (or inches) would have been better.
> For scale, that's a 330-mL energy drink", do they mean that it has a diameter of around 13 cm or what?
It just means it's a standard european small-but-tall style can. There are 2shapes of 330ml cans, the shorter/stubbier one and the taller narrower one which was initially most common in energy drinks but is now used for soda cans too. Beer still uses the shorter/stubbier 330ml.
I believe they are around 14.5 cm high. Diameter around 6cm.
"small Red Bull can". I didn't know they come in different sizes. Apparently the small one is 250 ml, mid one 355 ml and then there's a big one of 473 ml.
The 250 ml comes in a 14 cm height box, so I guess the 13 cm were a correct guess?
A 330 ml "Sleek Can", which I guess is the same one as a Red Bull can, has a height of 146 mm.
You know there's some scientists who study shapes and they say that diameter and height are different properties of a cylinder. I wouldn't know anything about that though I'm certainly no scientist.
It's the article which is comparing the height of a can to the radius or diameter of the motor (apparently the radius, but it would be more logical to compare it to the diameter).
It's just as valid as using bananas for scale, but the issue with the article is that that it doesn't even bother to mention the actual dimensions in cm or inches, yet it uses "tiny" in the title to describe the engine.
But for a circular cylinder, the height is not the same as the diameter, which of course is taken as the widest length across the circular cross-section. For a standard energy drink style can, that is around 70 mm (less than 3 inches).
Also, aren't energy drink cans larger than coke cans? I haven't had a can in front of me for years, so using cm (or inches) would have been better.