Petrol Engine
Thermal Physics > Heat Engines
Diesel Engine Diesel Engine The inner view of a Four stroke powered Diesel Engine of a car.

To overcome the drawbacks of the steam engine, a smaller and efficient engine is required, which is known as the Internal combustion engine.

Petrol or a diesel engine is called an internal combustion engine because the combustion of fuel (petrol) takes place inside the cylinder of the petrol (diesel) engine.

The gases formed during combustion exert pressure and push the piston outward. Since a small amount of fuel is introduced at a time, the size of this type of engine can be small, and hence, it can be used in small vehicles also.

Almost all the vehicles today are powered by internal combustion engine, which uses petrol or diesel as the fuel. Continuous improvements in these engines are an ongoing process to achieve higher and higher efficiency. This will continue, because of the increasing demand for the mechanical energy.

Petrol and Diesel are the fossil fuels which are renewable. So a quest for a modern Engine with more efficiency using non renewable source of energy is under progress. The recent developments are with the electric and Solar powered Engines, but the efficiency is far less compared to the petrol or diesel powered Engines.

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