A mechanical device in which he combustion of fuel in a small area produces gases that expand to generate power.
The most common types of the internal combustion engine are the reciprocating, spark-ignited, four-stroke gasoline engines (used in automo biles); jet propulsion engines; rocket engines; and gas turbine engines.
The piston-type engine used in cars has cylinders (where the combustion occurs), pistons that slide up and down inside the cylinders, connecting rods that turn the crankshaft, and a head (metal cover) where the spark plugs create the ignition. Two additional openings allow for the intake of the gasoline mixture and for the discharge of exhaust. Some vehicles use diesel engines that were invented by Rudolf Diesel in 1892. The diesel relies on the heat produced by compression for its power instead of ignition from the spark plugs. This type of engine is generally used in heavier vehicles that require large amounts of power such as trains, ships, and trucks. Both types of engines are lubricated by oil to reduce friction and overheating.
Scientists and engineers have been improving the internal combustion engine since the late seventeenth century. Dutch physicist Christiaan Huygens was the first known person to have conducted experiments with the engine in 1680. More than 150 years later, French engineer J.J. Étienne Lenoir designed a spark-ignition engine that worked on a continuous basis. In 1878, Nikolaus A. Otto built the first four-stroke engine, which was followed by the invention of the two-stroke engine by Sir Dugald Clerk that same year. But the real advances occurred with the development of the prototype of the modern engine by Gottlieb Daimler in 1885.
In the early 1880s, motorized vehicles were constructed by using small combustion engines mounted on bikes called motorcycles. Karl Benz was the first to build an automobile using an internal combustion engine, three wheels, and differential gears. His creation was first used in Mannheim, Germany, in 1885, and the following year he received a patent for it. By 1894, the Daimler Company was producing the Panhard car in France. During that same decade, automobile manufacturers like Charles Duryea and J. Frank Duryea, Elwood Haynes, Henry Ford, Ransom E. Olds, and Alexander Winton were producing basic automobiles for the American public. With so many competitors, the issuing of a patent to one individual, George Selden, complicated the situation in the United States. Ford was sued for violating the patent, which he refused to recognize. By 1911, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the patent did not apply to four-stroke engines such as the one used by Ford. With this hurdle behind him, Ford worked on implementing the assembly line in the manufacturing process to reduce the time and cost of producing his Model T. During the 1920s, when credit was easily obtainable, average Americans purchased these new vehicles, with their internal combustion engines, in record numbers.
The internal combustion engine transformed the transportation industry and society. The automobile allowed people to travel farther away from their homes on outings and vacations. Service industries such as restaurants, motels, and gasoline stations catered to the needs of drivers and passengers. Tire stores, windshield compa nies, and mechanics serviced the vehicles. Trucks, also powered by the internal combustion engine, made it easier to move goods from one point to another without having to load and reload the merchandise on boxcars. The invention of the internal combustion engine helped bring about the decline of the railroad industry. Automobiles became so popular in the United States that soon other countries wanted them as well. However, high tariff barriers raised the cost of the cars to a prohibitive level. Ford was the first manufacturer to operate a plant outside the United States to circumvent these trade restrictions. The multinational corporation has since changed the way business is conducted around the world.
During World War II and the postwar period, the internal combustion engine was adapted to provide power for planes, jets, and even rockets. From the development of these new forms of transportation, the world, and now even outer space, is becoming increasingly interconnected. People and goods can be moved from one destination to another in a matter of hours. The technology developed in the airline industry and space exploration has produced a number of consumer goods that have affected trade. Freeze-dried goods and computers are just two such items made possible by the use of transportation powered by the internal combustion engine.
During the 1960s and 1970s, individuals began speaking out about the harmful effects of manufacturing on the environment. Emissions from automobiles became a big issue during the 1980s and 1990s as California passed stricter emission standards. By the 1990s, the use of the internal combustion engine was so prevalent that to ban its use would be economically unfeasible. Instead, new devices were invented to reduce harmful emissions. Leaded gasoline was also phased out. Experimental use of alternatives to the internal combustion engine have been conducted but with little commercial success. Electric cars and hybrids that combine electric power with gasoline are also on the market, but consumers continue to favor the gasoline engine. Oil producers and their auxiliary suppliers are also resisting such a change. The impact on the world market from such a dramatic change would be tremendous.
The internal combustion engine has been romanticized throughout the decades. In 1911, the first auto race was held at Indianapolis. Since then, the Indianapolis 500 has attracted tens of thousands of fans, and an entire circuit of races is now run each year both in the United States and abroad. New improvements on the engine have resulted in the creation of the high-performance industry, with manufacturers such as Porsche and Ferrari leading the pack. While the original car ran on one cylinder, the latest engines can have up to sixteen cylinders. As speed increases and safety improves, the transition from the internal combustion engine to another form of mechanical power remains doubtful.
Cynthia Clark Northrup
See also: Automobiles.
Ayres, Robert U., and Richard P. McKenna. Alternatives to the Internal Combustion Engine: Impacts on Environmental Quality. Baltimore: Published for Resources for the Future by the Johns Hopkins University Press, 1972.
Olney, Ross Robert. The Internal Combustion Engine. New York: Lippincott, 1982.
Urquhart, David Inglis. The Internal Combustion Engine and How It Works. New York: H.Z. Walck, 1973.