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Have you ever opened the hood of your car and wondered what was going on in there? A car engine can look like a big confusing jumble of metal, tubes and wires to the uninitiated.
The purpose of a gasoline car engine is to convert petrol into motion so that your car can move. Currently the easiest way to create motion from petrol is to burn the petrol inside an engine. Therefore, a car engine is an internal combustion engine — combustion takes place internally.
The principle behind any reciprocating internal combustion engine: If you put a tiny amount of high-energy-density fuel (like petrol) in a small, enclosed space and ignite it, an incredible amount of energy is released in the form of expanding gas. You can use that energy for interesting purposes. For example, if you can create a cycle that allows you to set off explosions like this hundreds of times per minute, and if you can harness that energy in a useful way, what you have is the core of a car engine.
Almost every car with a gasoline engine uses a four-stroke combustion cycle to convert gasoline into motion. In an internal combustion engine (such as a car engine) the energy of the explosion and expansion of a fuel /air mixture moves pistons, which turn a crankshaft. This movement is used to turn the wheels of the vehicle.
The four-stroke approach is also known as the Otto cycle, in honor of Nikolaus Otto, who invented it in 1867.
The four strokes are:
Intake/Induction stroke - Inlet valve opens. Piston moves down. The fuel/air mixture moves into the cylinder.
Compression stroke - Inlet valve closes. Piston moves up so that the fuel/air mixture is compressed.
Combustion/Power stroke - A spark from the spark plug mokesthe fuel/air mixture explode. The hot gases from the explosion push the piston bock down the cylinder.
Exhaust stroke - Outlet valve opens. The piston moves bock up and the burnt gases are forced out of the cylinder.
Click on the buttons below to watch some clips about how an internal combustion engine works.
Click on the buttons below to watch some clips showing different fuels and mixtures combusting in a see through engine.
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