Internal Combustion Engine
NAME: Internal-combustion engine
DETAILS/DESCRIPTION:
An engine which uses the combustion of a fuel (generally gasoline or diesel) and air to drive the piston in a cylinder. As the spray of fuel is injected into the top of the cylinder, a spark ignites the fuel. The expansion of the high-temperature gases generated by the explosion drives the piston downwards, to work a crank which causes the up and down piston movement to be changed to rotary motion, which eventually drives wheels (such as those on a vehicle or those driving machine belts).
The principle of using an explosion to move a piston in a cylinder was first shown in 1673, when by the Dutch scientist Christiaan Huyghens* and Frenchman Papin*. In the 1780s the Italian Volta* built a toy pistol in which an electric spark exploded a gas mixture to eject a cork (the first spark plug). In 1876 the Germans Otto*, Daimler* and Maybach* produced the first practical four-stroke combustion engine.
ONELINER: The internal-combustion engine gradually replaced the steam engine, transforming land and air transportation
OTHER CONNECTIONS: None
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Encyclopaedia Britannica
AUDIO/VISUAL:
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/engine1.htm