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internal-combustion engine
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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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internal-combustion engine: References & Edit History

Additional Reading

Overviews include Charles Fayette Taylor, The Internal Combustion Engine in Theory and Practice, 2nd ed., 2 vol. (1985); John B. Heywood, Internal Combustion Engine Fundamentals (1988); Richard Stone, Introduction to Internal Combustion Engines, 3rd ed. (1999); and Colin R. Ferguson and Allan T. Kirkpatrick, Internal Combustion Engines: Applied Thermosciences (2000).

Charles Lafayette Proctor

Article Contributors

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Other Contributors

  • Max Fishwick

Other Encyclopedia Britannica Contributors

Article History

Type Description Contributor Date
Modified link of Web site: IOPscience - IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science - Internal combustion engine as electrical machine. Oct 30, 2026
Add new Web site: CORE - Internal combustion engine as electrical machine (PDF). Nov 21, 2025
Add new Web site: National Center for Biotechnology Information - PubMed Central - Performance and emissions data of an internal combustion engine operating with different ethanol/water mixtures and compression ratios. Aug 26, 2025
Add new Web site: PNAS - Operando measurement of lattice strain in internal combustion engine components by neutron diffraction. Jun 20, 2025
Add new Web site: International Journal of Engineering and Innovative Technology - Internal Combustion Engines – A Comprehensive Study (PDF). May 12, 2025
Add new Web site: IOPscience - IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science - Internal combustion engine as electrical machine. Dec 10, 2024
Add new Web site: International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology - Internal Combustion Engine (PDF). Oct 08, 2024
Add new Web site: Al Jazeera - The end of the internal combustion engine? Feb 16, 2024
Add new Web site: Frontiers - Biofuel Powering of Internal Combustion Engines: Production Routes, Effect on Performance and CFD Modeling of Combustion. Jun 21, 2023
Add new Web site: Massachusetts Institute of Technology - The Internal combustion engine. May 12, 2023
Add new Web site: Academia - Internal combustion engine. Sep 12, 2022
Added a photograph of Henry Ford's “Fordson tractor,” a diagram of different types of gasoline engines, and a diagram of two types of air-breathing engines. Jun 01, 2020
Add new Web site: Energy Education - Internal combustion engine. Nov 20, 2019
Changed "as typified by the space plane" to "such as those proposed for hypersonic aircraft." Jan 15, 2018
Add new Web site: Easy Science for Kids - All About Internal Combustion Engines. Jan 04, 2017
Add new Web site: Energy.gov - Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy - Internal Combustion Engine Basics. Jul 30, 2015
Added the book Internal Combustion Engines (2000) by Colin R. Ferguson and Allan T. Kirkpatrick. Jul 18, 2012
New bibliography added. Jul 18, 2012
Media added. Jun 11, 2010
Added new Web site: The Internal Combustion Engine at Work - Compression Ratio. Sep 24, 2007
Article revised and updated. Feb 02, 2007
Article added to new online database. Jul 26, 1999
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