What is an Internal Combustion Engine?

"A car engine is an internal combustion engine", you may have heard before. But, what does this jargon mean? More exactly, what does the part of "internal combustion engine" mean? In this article, the AIO seeks to answer such questions. So let's start with the meat of the bone. What is an internal combustion engine? 

First, the process of combustion occurs when a fuel reacts with oxygen to produce heat (and usually other byproducts, such as carbon dioxide and water). Secondly, an engine is a machine designed to convert energy into useful mechanic motion. 

Now, we are ready to answer the following: what is the difference between an internal and an external combustion engine? In an external combustion engine, the internal fluid that actuates a machine is heated by combustion that occurs in an external source. The heat in this external source then is transferred to the engine and is responsible for heating the liquid. 

In an internal combustion engine, the combustion of a fuel occurs inside a combustion chamber that is an integral part of the internal fluid that actuates a machine. The heat produced during combustion causes the air inside of an engine to heat up, increasing the pressure of the air at the same. It is this expansion of high-temperature and high-pressure gasses that then applies direct force to a specific component of the engine that in turn, in a series of controlled events, makes for the turning of the wheels of a vehicle.

The internal combustion engine is indeed a great invention of human creativity and ingenuity.

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