Wor kin g of a Petr ol Engine

Principal of Petrol Engine

In petrol engine, the fuel (petrol) is vaporized and mixed with the correct amount of air in the
carburetor. The mixture of petrol and air is passed into the cylinder fitted with a movable piston.
It is then compressed and ignited by an electric spark from a spark plug. The petrol and air
mixture burns rapidly to produce a large volume of gaseous products in the cylinder and
therefore, high pressure is build up inside the cylinder. This pushes the piston outwards and then
piston pushes a rod attached to called piston rod. The piston rod then turns a crank shaft which
turns the wheels. In this way, the up and down movement of the piston is converted into the
rotatory motion of the wheels.

Principal of Petrol Engine

The working of an internal combustion engine using petrol as fuel is divided into four stages or
steps called four strokes of the engine. These Steps are :

i. Intake stroke
ii. Compression stroke
iii. Power stroke of expansion stroke
iv. Exhaust stroke

i. The intake Stroke : in this step, fuel air mixture enters into the cylinder. At this movement,
the intake valve (V1) opens and the fuel air-mixture enters the cylinder by atmosphere pressure.
This step is also called Charging Stroke. In this step, the exhaust valve remains closed.

ii The Compression Stroke : In this step, the fuel air mixture is highly compressed to a small
volume. When the sufficient amount of the fuel-air mixture enters the cylinder, the intake valve
closes. The position is then forced to move upwards which compresses the fuel-air mixture to
about 1/8th of the original volume. The efficiency of the engine depends upon the compression.
Higher the compression ratio, more is the efficiency of the engine.

Entry of Petrol air an Spark Plug

vapour

Exhaust Valve
(Closed)

Intake Valve
(Open)
Fuel Air Mixture
(Closed)
Cylinder

Piston Rod
Piston

Wheel
Crank
Shaft

iii The Power Stroke : In this step, the compressed fuel-air mixture is ignited by a spark from the
spark plug. As a result of combustion of fuel, a large volume of gases and heat is produced.
Therefore, the pressure inside the cylinder increases and this pushes the piston downwards. The
piston then pushes the piston rod, which in turn pushes the crank shaft. When the crank shaft
turns, it rotates the wheels of the vehicle and it makes the vehicle run.
This stroke provides power and is therefore , called Power Stroke.

iv. The Exhaust Stroke : In this step, the burnt gases are expelled from the cylinder to the
atmosphere. When the piston has downward by the hot expanding gases in the power stroke, the
exhaust valve (V2) opens. Due to the momentum gained by the wheels, the piston moves
upwards and expels the burnt gases through the valve V2.

After exhaust stroke, the exhaust valve then closes and the intake valve opens and the above four
steps are rotated again and again.
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Submitted by : Students of Govt. High School, Bir Sikhanwala, Faridkot
1 Mandeep Kaur 7th A
2 Lovedeep Kaur 7th A
3 Harsimran Singh 7th B
Figure : Working of a Petrol Engine