The Four Steps Every Car Engine Uses to Move

How does a car engine actually work? In this video I explain it simply: how tiny, controlled explosions turn into the spinning motion that moves your car. What you'll learn: • The parts of an engine: cylinder, piston, intake and exhaust valves, spark plug, connecting rod and crankshaft • How the crankshaft turns up-and-down motion into spinning (just like your legs on a bicycle) • The four strokes: suck, squeeze, bang, blow (intake, compression, power, exhaust) • Why every cylinder fires about 25 times a second at highway speed • Why cars have 4, 6 or 8 cylinders, and what the flywheel does • How the camshaft and timing belt open the valves at exactly the right moment, and why a snapped timing belt is so expensive • How oil and coolant keep the engine from destroying itself • Why only about a third of your fuel's energy actually moves the car • Bonus: how a diesel engine works without a spark plug References • Four-stroke engine (intake, compression, power, exhaust; the camshaft turns at half crankshaft speed) – Wikipedia • Compression ratio (gasoline ~8–12:1, diesel ~14–23:1) – Wikipedia • Engine efficiency (typical gasoline engines ~25–35%, best ~40%) – Wikipedia • Where the Energy Goes: Gasoline Vehicles – U.S. Department of Energy (fueleconomy.gov / AFDC) • Interference engine (why a broken timing belt can let the valves hit the pistons) – Wikipedia • Diesel engine (compression ignition) – Wikipedia • 25 power strokes per second: 3,000 rpm ÷ 60 = 50 turns per second, one power stroke every 2 turns Stock footage and thumbnail photo: Pixabay contributors (Pixabay Content License). Narration: Me. Animations and music: OddlyWorks. New videos explain one machine at a time. Subscribe to learn how machines actually work. #howitworks #carengine #mechanicalengineering