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internal-combustion engine: Quick Facts

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Photos

Close-up view of an automobile's internal-combustion engine with visible intake manifold, hoses, and various engine components.
A man drives a 1920s iron-wheeled Fordson tractor with an attached plow across a freshly tilled field, with trees lining the background.
Diagram showing four types of gasoline engines: an opposed-piston engine with pistons facing each other, a Wankel rotary engine with a triangular rotor, an in-line engine with pistons arranged vertically, and a V-type (V-8) engine with pistons set in a V shape. Arrows indicate the direction of motion in each engine.
Diagram comparing turbofan and turboprop air-breathing engines. The turbofan shows air split between the compressor and bypassing the engine, while the turboprop shows hot gases driving a turbine that powers both the compressor and a propeller. Key components such as air intake, compressor, combustion chamber, turbine, and exhaust are labeled, with arrows indicating airflow and hot gas movement.
internal-combustion engine
Diagram showing the four-stroke cycle of a typical diesel engine, with labeled stages: intake (air enters), compression (air is compressed), power (fuel ignites and pushes piston down), and exhaust (gases exit).
Internal-combustion engine
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Topics
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Key People

Jean-Joseph Étienne Lenoir
(Jean-Joseph-) Étienne Lenoir
Belgian inventor
Karl Benz
Karl Benz
German engineer
Nicéphore Niépce
Nicéphore Niépce
French inventor
Gottlieb Daimler
Gottlieb Daimler
German engineer and inventor
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Ole Evinrude
Norwegian-American inventor
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Jean de Hautefeuille
French physicist
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Eugen Langen
German engineer
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Samuel Morey
American inventor

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