How does petrol make a car move

But have you ever stopped and thought, How does it actually do that? What makes it move? Unless you have already adopted an electric car as your daily driver, the magic of how comes down to the internal-combustion engine —that thing making noise under the hood. But how does an engine work, exactly? Specifically, an internal-combustion engine is a heat engine in that it converts energy from the heat of burning gasoline into mechanical work, or torque. That torque is applied to the wheels to make the car move.

And unless you are driving an ancient two-stroke Saab which sounds like an old chain saw and belches oily smoke out its exhaust , your engine works on the same basic principles whether you're wheeling a Ford or a Ferrari. Engines have pistons that move up and down inside metal tubes called cylinders. Imagine riding a bicycle: Your legs move up and down to turn the pedals. Pistons are connected via rods they're like your shins to a crankshaft, and they move up and down to spin the engine's crankshaft, the same way your legs spin the bike's—which in turn powers the bike's drive wheel or car's drive wheels.

Depending on the vehicle, there are typically between two and 12 cylinders in its engine, with a piston moving up and down in each. What powers those pistons up and down are thousands of tiny controlled explosions occurring each minute, created by mixing fuel with oxygen and igniting the mixture. Each time the fuel ignites is called the combustion, or power, stroke.

Lots of internet people have explained this much better than I can. And they have pictures. Try these engine animations and howstuffworks. Sinead Quirke answered on 6 Feb Fuel and air are sucked into the engine where the mixture is squeezed compressed.

It is then ignited. This causes gases to be blown out of the engine. This energy is then used to turn mechanical parts of the car and make it drive. If you could choose to live in any era, particularly an era where there were major advances in technology, which era. Have you ever made anything for a big company? Is your day ever a bit helter scelter due to you working late etc Without them, the car's wheels would rapidly spin on the road without moving the car forward.

The wheels would also damage the asphalt road. Tires are made of a special hardened rubber that fits tightly around the car wheels rubber is liquid without being hardened first. Not all cars are powered by internal combustion engines. In recent years electric cars have been the focus of increased attention as an alternative to gasoline-powered vehicles. They get their energy from electricity, which provides the power to turn the car's wheels. What Makes the Wheels Move on a Car?

Parts of a Motor. The crankshaft revolves back into its starting position before being pushed upwards again. The basic steps in combustion:. Understanding how an internal combustion engine works can help when it comes time for regular car maintenance. There are a couple of different types of internal combustion engines. One is the gas turbine engine, which costs more to manufacture than a traditional internal combustion engine. Another is an external combustion engine.