Internal

Internal Combustion Engine

Robert Jonathan Love

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

Worldwide Campus

One of the best inventions in our modern society to date is the internal combustion engine. Without the internal combustion engine the modern convenience of having a car would not exist. Could you imagine having to go somewhere like Atlanta Georgia from Warner Robins Georgia on horseback or foot; it would make a 2 hour trip into a day long journey or more. We also wouldn’t have things like aircraft. On an average a hours can only travel twenty or thirty miles a day. Some people commute more than fifty or sixty miles a day. With that being said the internal combustion engine is the best invention in our society. Without the comfort of vehicles some of the stuff that we use every day and get from the grocery store would be unavailable. Big business such as Wal-Mart would not be around people would have to fend for oneself. Just imagine having to grow your own vegetables and just so you would have them to eat. People would have to make your own clothing, because there wouldn’t be all the clothing stores to shop at. (HOURSES: An Informational Site)

The history of the internal combustion engine date back to 1680. A Dutch physicist came up with a design of an internal combustion engine that was fueled by gun powder. A very influential person in the design was Nicolaus Otto that built the first gas internal combustion engine. Otto put his engine into a motorcycle but it was more important that it was able to be adapted to and automobile. In 1885 Karl Benz a German mechanical engineer built the first automobile that uses and internal combustion engine. This design that Benz made is commonly recognized as a prototype to modern motors that we have in cars today. In 1889 the first v-slant motor was designed with mushroom head shaped valves. This was the predecessor to the modern V6, V8, V10, and V12 motors we use today. Until then the engines were...