Simply what happens in the gasoline engine is..
Gasoline (fuel), is mixed with air, and partially vaporized inside the carburetor.. This mixture is then gone to the cylinder. And in the cylinder there is a piston by which it compresses this mixture by upwards perssing. When the mixture is burned, the resulting heat causes the gases to expand, and so pressure is exerted on the walls of the cylinder, while the piston goes downwards by the force of the expanding gases.. The force exerted on the piston is transmitted through a connecting rod to a crankshaft which revolves, and its attached to a flywheel (the crankshaft).
And then this energy wich is generated by the cylinders is gone to the wheels, but it passes first by a lot of pipes and some of this mixture is released from the exhaust pipe at the back of the car.
From 70% to 80% of the fuel is lost as heat, which is then absorbed by the cooling system, this lost heat could not be reduced, this lost heat depends on the design, condition, tempreture of the engine and also the friction which is done by the pistons of the cylinders and the oil which is used also plays a role in the heat energy which is lost..
There is something called stroke, which is the compression, power, exhaust made in the engine..
There are 2 stroke engines (motorcycle engines) and four stroke engine (cars) and we might find in nowadays cars, engines consists of more than 4 stroke..
The operation of moving or running a car is so complicated and so long, which I will can't explain.. So for more info just post a topic with your question and I will reply immediately...
This text is written by Sherif TantawiŽ