Engine Facts

Engines are devices that convert fuel into movement.
Most engines work by burning the fuel to make gases that expand rapidly as they get hot.
Engines that burn fuel to generate power are called heat engines. The burning is called combustion.
An internal combustion engine, as used in a car, a jet or a rocket, burns its fuel on the inside.
In engines such as those in cars and diesel trains, the hot gases swell inside a chamber (the combustion chamber) and push against a piston or turbine.
An external combustion engine burns its fuel on the outside in a separate boiler that makes hot steam to drive a piston or turbine. Steam engines on trains and boats work in this way.
The Thrust car used a rocket motor to give it the acceleration it needed further its attempt on the world land speed record.
Engines with pistons that go back and forth inside cylinders are called reciprocating engines.
In jets and rockets, hot gases swell and push against the engine as they shoot out of the back.
In four-stroke engines, such as those in most cars, the pistons go up and down four times for each time they are thrust down by the hot gases.
In two-stroke engines, such as those on small motorcycles, lawnmowers and chainsaws, the piston is pushed by burning gases every time it goes down.
A jet engine burns fuel with air drawn in from the atmosphere in order to generate gases: it discharges these from the rear to power the craft along. 155 Hot gases leave the rear of the craft.

This entry is filed under Interesting Facts.