Internal vs External Combustion Engines

Energy can take several forms, including chemical energy, mechanical energy, heat energy, light energy, electrical energy, and mechanical energy form. Now for a vehicle to move, energy has to be converted from one form to another. A vehicle engine is the machine that changes chemical energy into heat energy. The heat energy is then transformed into mechanical energy. Let's learn more about this process and also about internal and external combustion engines.

As a car burns gasoline or other fuels, it produces heat energy. This burning is also known combustion. The heat energy in turns creates pressure. In turn, this pressure causes movement. In other words, the heat energy is converted to mechanical energy that then can turn the wheels of a car and cause it to move.

In order to convert heat energy into motion, two common types of engines have been used throughout history: internal combustion engines and external combustion engines. While internal combustion engines burn fuel inside the engine, external combustion engines burn the fuel outside of the engine.

External Combustion Engine

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This type of combustion engine is common in steam locomotives. When fuel was burnt in a firebox, water was turn into steam, and this steam was routed to a power cylinder where the piston would be pushed up and down. In turn, the moving piston would cause the drive wheel, which would make the locomotive move. 

Internal Combustion Engine

The internal combustion engine inside a car burns an air/fuel mixture inside a cylinder INSIDE the engine, just above the piston. When the mixture burns, heat is produced, which in turn produces a pressure force that causes the piston to go down the cylinder.

A rod then connects the piston the mechanism, the crankshaft, that provides the force to drive the wheels.