Spark or Squeeze: How Petrol and Diesel Engines Light Their Fuel

Spark or Squeeze: How Petrol and Diesel Engines Light Their Fuel · 1:54 · Intellect Plus

In short: A short explainer on how petrol engines ignite a fuel-air mixture with an electric spark, while diesel engines ignite injected fuel using air made hot by compression.

A 1:54 short film in the series “How Things Work”, narrated by intellect_voice_01.

Sources used in this film: U.S. Department of Energy, “Internal Combustion Engine Basics”; U.S. Department of Energy (staging copy of an energy.gov vehicles article, 'Internal Combustion Engine Basics'), “Internal Combustion Engine Basics”; Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Diesel engine | Definition, Development, Types, & Facts | Britannica”; Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Ignition system | Components, Functionality & Maintenance | Britannica”.

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