• Question: How does a car engine work?

    Asked by 824ntrd27 to NULL, Chloe, Irene, Pierre, Uday on 8 Nov 2015. This question was also asked by BossBob1234, 829ntrd48.
    • Photo: NULL

      NULL answered on 8 Nov 2015:

      I have no idea how a car engine works. I think you might want to be an engineer, or a mechanic when you grow up??

      OK, I’ll try to answer it anyway. Cars take in petrol, which is stuff that burns very well, in fact it tends to explode….! They use a little electrical spark from their battery to set the petrol on fire inside a metal box. And the explosion pushes some levers that turns the wheels of the car.

    • Photo: Chloe Huseyin

      Chloe Huseyin answered on 17 Nov 2015:

      I don’t know very much about car engines to be honest. The way I understand it is the chemical energy stored within the petrol/diesel is released by burning and this is used to power the car and make it move.

      I found this link that explains it pretty well though if you’d like to read more:
      http://auto.howstuffworks.com/engine.htm

    • Photo: Irene Regan

      Irene Regan answered on 19 Nov 2015:

      That is a fantastic Q:)
      You mightn’t believe it but car engines work with hundreds of little explosions,
      The fuel is pushed into a little chamber called a cylinder and a spark from a part called the spark plug creates a mini- explosion. The pressure from the explosion makes the engine turn. This happens hundreds of times every minutes. The faster you go , the more explosions happen!
      Would you like to know how a jet engine works- it’s a little different??

    • Photo: Uday Bangavadi

      Uday Bangavadi answered on 20 Nov 2015:

      Car is equipped with 4 stroke internal combustion engines. The functioning of 4 strokes are :

      Intake: The piston is pulled down inside the cylinder by the momentum of the crankshaft . Most of the time the car is moving along, so the crankshaft is always turning. The inlet valve opens, letting a mixture of fuel and air into the cylinder through the purple pipe.

      Compression: The inlet valve closes. The piston moves back up the cylinder and compresses (squeezes) the fuel-air mixture, which makes it much more flammable. When the piston reaches the top of the cylinder, the sparking plug fires.

      Power: The spark ignites the fuel-air mixture causing a mini explosion. The fuel burns immediately, giving off hot gas that pushes the piston back down. The energy released by the fuel is now powering the crankshaft.

      Exhaust: The outlet valve opens. As the crankshaft continues to turn, the piston is forced back up the cylinder for a second time. It forces the exhaust gases (produced when the fuel burned) out through the exhaust outlet.

      At beginning the words might be confusing, so please take a look at the below link which shows the animated explanation.

      http://animagraffs.com/how-a-car-engine-works/

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