Quot;How Car Engines Work" Have you ever opened the hood of your car and wondered what was going on in there?
A car engine can look like a big confusing jumble of metal, tubes and wires to the uninitiated. You might want to know what's going on simply out of curiosity. Quot;Diesel Engines" One of the most popular HowStuffWorks articles is How Car Engines Work, which explains the basic principles behind internal combustion, discusses the four-stroke cycle and talks about all of the subsystems that help your car's engine to do its job.
For a long time after we published that article, one of the most common questions asked (and one of the most frequent suggestions made in the suggestion box) was, "What is the difference between a gasoline and a diesel engine? " Diesel's story actually begins with the invention of the gasoline engine. Nikolaus August Otto had invented and patented the gasoline engine by 1876.
Quot;How Oil Refining Works" In movies and television shows -- Giant, Oklahoma Crude, Armageddon, Beverly Hillbillies -- we have seen images of thick, black crude oil gushing out of the ground or a drilling platform.
But when you pump the gasoline for your car, you've probably noticed that it is clear. And there are so many other products that come from oil, including crayons, plastics, heating oil, jet fuel, kerosene, synthetic fibers and tires. How is it possible to start with crude oil and end up with gasoline and all of these other products? In this article, we'll examine the chemistry and technology involved in refining crude oil to produce all of these different things. HowStuffWorks - Learn How Everything Works!