Inquiry Project 1Car Engines

Ashley Barr

EDUC 373

Fall 2009

My Experience with Cars

• Recently, I became interested in “old” cars (cars from 1960-1970s). I had the opportunity to travel to Nashville and go to a car show at the LP Field (home of the Tennessee Titans football team) and I also went to the Frog Follies for the first time in Evansville.

Questions I Had

• I know very little about cars, so I had a lot of questions. Some of my questions included:– How do all the parts work together?– What are the parts of a car engine?– What would happen if one minor part broke

down?

Connections with Standards

• IN Academic Standard 4.6.1 – Demonstrate that in an object consisting of many parts, the parts usually influence or interact with one another.

• IN Academic Standard 4.6.2 – Show that something may not work as well, or at all, if a part is missing, broken, worn out, mismatched, or incorrectly connected.

Standards taken from: http://dc.doe.in.gov/Standards/AcademicStandards/StandardSearch.aspx

Research Findings

• I know most students won’t be able to work directly on a car motor, but the following link directs you to an activity that involves working on a circuit. It shows students how the small parts work together for the overall part.– http://www.indianastandardsresources.org/files/sci/sci_4_6_1.pd

f

How an Engine Works

• “Small cars has some 30,000 individual

mechanical components.” Each component has a job to do. “The engine is a ‘combustion’ engine because it burns fuel, usually a mixture of

gasoline and air. It is an ‘internal’ combustion

engine because the fuel burns inside the

cylinders.” (1. Sutton)

1955 Chevy – engine located under front hood. “With the gasoline rationing of WWII ending in 1950, designers started working on cars that moved faster than ever.” (1.

Sutton)

How an Engine Works (contd.)

• “Inside the cylinders, this deadly mixture (gasoline and air) is squeezed by the piston to make it even more ready to catch fire – and is then ignited by an electrical spark. It bursts into flame and expands so that it drives the piston back down the cylinder. It is the downward plunge of the piston that spins the crankshaft and gives the engine its power.” (5. Brain)

Parts of a Car Engine

The engine in a Chevelle at the Nashville show

When you actually take apart an engine, it isn’t as complicated as it appears. Some of the main parts you will find include: the air filter, spark plugs, block head, fan belt, water pump, generator, and the carburetor. I didn’t have the time to learn what the job of each individual part was, but I did learn that the parts have to be strong because the heat under the hood can reach 3,100 degrees F inside the cylinders.

When parts break down

• Most of us have had an experience where a light on our dashboard came on or something happened and you realized you needed work done to your car (including myself).

• When I took it to a mechanic and they told me what was wrong, I felt like they were speaking a totally different language.

When Parts Break Down (contd.)

• For an engine to run smoothly, all of the parts must be made accurately.

• If one part of an engine doesn’t work, it may cause serious damage to the engine.

• For example, the spark plug ignites the fuel charge which sends the piston shooting down the cylinder. If a spark comes too early or too late, it could cause damage to the engine.

References

• Books:• 1. Eyewitness Books: Car by Richard Sutton (1990)• 2. Machines: A Book of Moving Pop-Ups by Tim Reeve (2001)• 3. Motors and Engines and How They Work by Harvey Weiss (1969)

• Websites:• 4. “How Two Stroke Engines Work” YouTube (2009)

– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuCUmQ9FxMU• 5. “How Car Engines Work” by Marshall Brain (2009)

– http://www.howstuffworks.com/engine.htm

1968 Pontiac Firebird – Love this car!