Lesson 1 of 12 · Automotive basics

What is an engine?

3 min20 XP3 questions

A piston moves up and down. The wheels turn. What connects those two motions?

A combustion engine converts energy in fuel into mechanical work. Gas pressure moves pistons; connecting rods and a crankshaft turn that movement into rotation. That rotation can drive the wheels through a transmission.

The idea

Combustion pressure pushes the piston. The connecting rod carries that force to the crankshaft, producing rotation.

The engine supplies rotation. The transmission and differential adapt and distribute it before it reaches the tires.

Think it through

Trace one push: pressure → piston → connecting rod → what rotating part? Then name the component that changes the ratio on the way to the wheels.

Show the reasoning

The crankshaft delivers rotation. The transmission then changes the relationship between rotational speed and torque before drive reaches the wheels.

Take away
  • Say the conversion: pressure → movement → rotation.
  • Separate making rotation from adapting it.
Sources