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Questions and Answers
What is the main purpose of gears in a car?
What happens when the driver steps on the brake pedal?
What type of fuel do some car engines use instead of gasoline?
What is required to accelerate along a road or drive up a steep hill?
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How do diesel engines ignite the fuel and air mixture inside the cylinders?
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What is the purpose of the low gear in a car?
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How do the brake pads slow down the car?
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What is a benefit of diesel engines compared to gasoline engines?
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What gear would you use to cruise along a highway?
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What is a drawback of diesel engines compared to gasoline engines?
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Who invented the first self-propelled road vehicle?
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What was the main issue with steam-powered carriages in the 1800s?
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What type of engine was invented by Etienne Lenoir in 1869?
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What does the term 'Combustion' mean in relation to engines?
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Who designed a more efficient internal combustion engine?
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What is the main function of the cylinders in an internal combustion engine?
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What is the benefit of using a V-shape arrangement for the cylinders in a car engine?
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How many cylinders can a car engine have?
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What is the name of the process where the piston moves four times for each explosion?
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What is the purpose of the spark plug in an internal combustion engine?
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What happens when the fuel-air mixture explodes in the cylinder?
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What is the purpose of a turbocharger in a car engine?
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What is the name of the car that was powered by a single cylinder four-stroke internal combustion engine?
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What is the term for the turning force of the wheels?
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What is a benefit of diesel engines compared to gasoline engines?
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What was the main issue with steam-powered carriages in the 1800s?
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Who invented the internal combustion engine?
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What is a drawback of diesel engines compared to gasoline engines?
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What is the name of the car that can travel 44.1 miles per gallon?
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What is the purpose of using a low gear when driving a car?
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Why do cars need to use gears?
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What happens when the brake pads clamp hard against the brake disk?
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What is the role of the fluid in the brake pipes?
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Why do cars need to use a high gear when cruising along a highway?
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Who is credited with inventing the first practical motorized vehicle?
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What is the purpose of the crankshaft in an internal combustion engine?
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What is the benefit of a V-shape arrangement for the cylinders in a car engine?
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What is the purpose of a supercharger or turbocharger in a car engine?
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What is the result of the fuel-air mixture exploding in the cylinder?
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Study Notes
Diesel Power
- Diesel engines do not need spark plugs to ignite the fuel and air inside the cylinders.
- Instead, the fuel and air explode spontaneously when the piston squeezes the mixture during the compression stroke.
- Diesel contains more energy than gasoline, so diesel cars can travel a greater distance for the same amount of fuel.
- The Porsche Panamera Diesel can travel 44.1 miles (71 km) per gallon.
History of Engines
- In the 1700s, engineers in Britain harnessed the power of steam to turn the wheels of steam locomotives.
- Nicolas Cugnot used a steam engine to power a tractor in 1769, the first self-propelled road vehicle.
- Etienne Lenoir invented the first internal combustion engine in 1869, which burned coal gas inside a metal engine.
- Nikolaus Otto designed a more efficient internal combustion engine that burned gasoline instead of coal gas.
- Otto's engine design is the basis for almost all modern automobile engines.
Internal Combustion Engine
- An internal combustion engine converts the energy locked away inside gasoline into the movement of the car's wheels.
- The engine unlocks this energy by burning the gasoline inside small metal chambers called cylinders.
- The cylinders are tubes cut into a lump of metal called the cylinder block.
- A car engine can have up to 16 cylinders in the cylinder block.
4-Stroke Cycle
- The 4-stroke cycle includes:
- Intake: the piston moves down, the cylinder takes in air, and the fuel injector squirts a tiny amount of gas into the cylinder.
- Compression: the piston moves up, squeezing the fuel-air mixture together.
- Explosion: a spark from the spark plug ignites the fuel-air mixture, driving the piston back down the cylinder.
- Exhaust: the piston moves back up, forcing burned gases into the car's exhaust system.
Engine Power
- German engineer Karl Benz made the first practical motorized vehicle in 1886, powered by a single-cylinder four-stroke internal combustion engine.
- Modern automobiles are more powerful, with larger engines and more cylinders to burn more gasoline.
- The cylinders in a car engine can be arranged in a straight line or in rows to make a V-shape.
- High-performance cars often have special boosters that squeeze more air into the cylinders, resulting in more powerful explosions and faster speeds.
Gears
- The crankshaft converts the up-and-down movement of the pistons into the turning force of the wheels, called torque.
- Cars use gears to increase the torque that is produced by the engine.
- The gears in a car are metal cogs of different sizes that line up inside the gearbox.
- Low gear is used to get a car moving or to climb a steep hill, with lots of torque.
- High gear is used to cruise along a highway, with less torque.
Braking
- Cars need a way to slow down as well as speed up.
- To slow down, the driver pushes their foot down on the brake pedal.
- The brake pedal is connected to the brakes on each wheel via fluid-filled pipes.
- The force of the foot is transmitted through the fluid in the brake pipes to brake pads at each wheel.
- The pads clamp hard against the brake disk on the wheel, slowing the wheel and reducing the speed of the car.
Diesel Power
- Diesel engines do not need spark plugs to ignite the fuel and air inside the cylinders.
- Instead, the fuel and air explode spontaneously when the piston squeezes the mixture during the compression stroke.
- Diesel contains more energy than gasoline, so diesel cars can travel a greater distance for the same amount of fuel.
- The Porsche Panamera Diesel can travel 44.1 miles (71 km) per gallon.
History of Engines
- In the 1700s, engineers in Britain harnessed the power of steam to turn the wheels of steam locomotives.
- Nicolas Cugnot used a steam engine to power a tractor in 1769, the first self-propelled road vehicle.
- Etienne Lenoir invented the first internal combustion engine in 1869, which burned coal gas inside a metal engine.
- Nikolaus Otto designed a more efficient internal combustion engine that burned gasoline instead of coal gas.
- Otto's engine design is the basis for almost all modern automobile engines.
Internal Combustion Engine
- An internal combustion engine converts the energy locked away inside gasoline into the movement of the car's wheels.
- The engine unlocks this energy by burning the gasoline inside small metal chambers called cylinders.
- The cylinders are tubes cut into a lump of metal called the cylinder block.
- A car engine can have up to 16 cylinders in the cylinder block.
4-Stroke Cycle
- The 4-stroke cycle includes:
- Intake: the piston moves down, the cylinder takes in air, and the fuel injector squirts a tiny amount of gas into the cylinder.
- Compression: the piston moves up, squeezing the fuel-air mixture together.
- Explosion: a spark from the spark plug ignites the fuel-air mixture, driving the piston back down the cylinder.
- Exhaust: the piston moves back up, forcing burned gases into the car's exhaust system.
Engine Power
- German engineer Karl Benz made the first practical motorized vehicle in 1886, powered by a single-cylinder four-stroke internal combustion engine.
- Modern automobiles are more powerful, with larger engines and more cylinders to burn more gasoline.
- The cylinders in a car engine can be arranged in a straight line or in rows to make a V-shape.
- High-performance cars often have special boosters that squeeze more air into the cylinders, resulting in more powerful explosions and faster speeds.
Gears
- The crankshaft converts the up-and-down movement of the pistons into the turning force of the wheels, called torque.
- Cars use gears to increase the torque that is produced by the engine.
- The gears in a car are metal cogs of different sizes that line up inside the gearbox.
- Low gear is used to get a car moving or to climb a steep hill, with lots of torque.
- High gear is used to cruise along a highway, with less torque.
Braking
- Cars need a way to slow down as well as speed up.
- To slow down, the driver pushes their foot down on the brake pedal.
- The brake pedal is connected to the brakes on each wheel via fluid-filled pipes.
- The force of the foot is transmitted through the fluid in the brake pipes to brake pads at each wheel.
- The pads clamp hard against the brake disk on the wheel, slowing the wheel and reducing the speed of the car.
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Description
Learn about how gears in a car work to increase torque, and how different gear sizes help handle various driving conditions. Discover the importance of low gear when getting a car moving or climbing steep hills.
