How does a gasoline and diesel engine work in simple terms

A gasoline engine and a diesel engine is an evolution of a steam engine. There had to be something to contain pressure and to be able to use that pressure before a gasoline and diesel engine would make any sense.

So, we have to thank the inventors of the steam engines worldwide to provide the way to harness pressure in the form of an expanding gas like steam from water to make sense of a gasoline engine or dieself engine.

And easy way to understand both gas or diesel engines is to think of yourself breathing: you breathe in air with oxygen and you breathe out carbon dioxide.

In the case of a gasoline engine it breathes in air and breathes out exhaust.

However, you could say the "food" of a gasoline engine is the gasoline that is then mixed with the air and set on fire (exploded) in your cylinders in your engine. It is said that 1 cup of gasoline has the explosive power of 7 sticks of dynamite which is really quite impressive if you think about it.

So, a fine mist or spray of gasoline is mixed with air and exploded inside the cylinders one by one in perfect timing to spin a crankshaft that is then transferred to your transmission so you can go forwards or backwards depending upon which gear you shift into.

If you have a stick shift you have 3 to 5 or 6 gears that you manually shift through and a reverse.

IF you have an automatic transmission (on a car or truck) then you only need "Drive and Reverse and Neutral and Park most of the time.

A diesel engine does the same thing as a gasoline engine but has much higher compression so the engine has to be built much stronger so it won't blow up. So, this is why big trucks are more likely to have diesel engines generally than cars because of the extra weight that has to be put into the engine so it won't blow up from the higher compression.

A diesel engine does not have spark plugs either, it combusts only through pressure of being compressed in the cylinders until it explodes. So, it doesn't shut off like a gasoline engine does either because of this. A gasoline engine is shut off by turning off the electricity to the spark plugs so the gasoline will stop exploding without a spark to the engine to each of the cylinders.

This is a very simple way of explaining gasoline engine and diesel engines.

If you want to study more about this here is what Wikipedia has to say:

1. Gas engine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

   en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_engine

   A gas engine is an internal combustion engine which runs on a gas fuel, such as coal gas, producer gas, biogas, landfill gas or natural gas. In the UK, the term is ... 

   
   

   1. Diesel engine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

      en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diesel_engine

      The diesel engine (also known as a compression-ignition or CI engine) is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel that has been injected into the ...

   2. How Do Diesel Engines Work? - For Dummies

      www.dummies.com/.../content/how-do-diesel-engines-work.html

      The basic difference between a diesel engine and a gasoline engine is that in a diesel engine, the fuel is sprayed into the combustion chambers through fuel injector ...

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   • Timeline of motor and engine technology
     1980s – electronic fuel injection appears on gasoline automobile engines. 1989 – The Bajulaz Six-Stroke Engine was invented by the Bajulaz S A company, based
     5 KB (594 words) - 19:20, 22 January 2016