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Understanding the Internal Combustion Engine
by
Mike Florence & Rob Blumer
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- Internal combustion burns gasoline
- The explosion of gas moves the cylinder
- The energy is be converted into rotary energy
There are two givens at work in the internal combustion engine:
• Gasoline burns. An internal combustion engine means just that: an engine with something burning—combusting—inside.
• The greater the amount of gasoline surface area, the greater the explosion when air and sparks are added. Gasoline is broken into small particles (sprayed) to increase the power of the explosion, and the more particles there are, the more surface exposure of the gasoline to air occurs in the engine.
Containing the Explosion
Since the engine is an “internal” combustion engine, a container must be found to keep the explosion on the inside. Here’s an idea. Put the gasoline in a sturdy metal can and press down a tight-fitting lid. Find a way to introduce a lighted match inside that can, and bam! a contained explosion. Well, nearly contained. The lid will blow off.
So the engine isn’t perfect just yet, but the “metal can” idea is an example of how an automobile cylinder works. Instead of a can with the lid sealing the opening from the outside, the cylinder is a “can” constructed of thick and sturdy alloys, with the lid sealing the mouth of the cylinder from the inside, like the lid on a soup can. That way, when the gasoline explodes (the spark plug provides the match-like spark), the lid moves straight up in the identical line of motion every time.
Solving Two Problems
Two problems must be solved to make our engine work. After the explosion, the exhaust must be siphoned off and a new supply of fuel must be introduced. After all, one explosion won’t propel a car very far.
And there is a second problem, a problem of a different sort: The explosion sends energy in a linear motion, but tires spin around. To restate the tire problem the way Henry Ford, or Ransom Olds, or Walter Chrysler might have said it: The reciprocating (up and down motion) energy produced by the gasoline explosion has to be converted into rotary (round and round motion) energy.
Here’s the whole description in car talk: The lid of the can is the piston, the container itself is the engine block, and the hole into which the piston fits is the cylinder. And the energy generated by the explosion must be converted over and over from the reciprocating motion of the piston into the rotary motion of the crankshaft.
…from The Everything Car Care Book. For more books, visit Adams Media Bookstore.
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