English

There are many things in the world that still need to be discovered and learned about. Every day we take so many things for granted because as long as we know it will work for us we don't care to take the time to understand on how it works. That is why for my senior exit project I wanted to go more in to depth and discover the things I didn't know about Cars. Cars are the universal symbol for transportation and getting from point A to point B. While driving to work one Saturday morning my car was making noises coming from the engine. Our topics were due in a couple of days and I had yet to come up with a topic. While looking at my engine when I got to work I looked at the engine body under the hood and wondered how everything works. I then started to think about were are cars going to be in the next 20 years or how they have evolved since the very first engine. Before researching this project I had very minimal knowledge on how the car runs and were it started to be it is now. I had made the assumption before starting this project that Henry Ford was the original inventor of the first automobile but actually many say it was a German man by the name of Karl Benz, which today is the famous car manufacture Mercedes Benz. ("Who invented...") Cars today are being modernized and many new ways on how we can make them better fuel-efficient. 1920's cars compared to today's car were larger and much heavier which can be bad because they used more gas. The car consists of over one thousand different pieces that make the car turn on to the wheels moving forward. Every time when we get into our cars we don't take the time to understand on how all these pieces work together to get you to be you need to go. I knew finding out more about the car would also help benefit me in knowing if something ever goes wrong with my car or anyone else around I would know how to respond and help.

Original Question(s):

When was the first automobile engine created?

How does the car work?

How have cars evolved over time?

Findings:

Henry Ford did not create suppressing the first automobile engine. I had made the assumption but actually a man named Jean Lenoir created it in 1861. This engine was being fed through a natural gas line and developed about 1hp. Lenoir has worked with a company out of Paris that had sold over 500 engines selling at about $1,599 a piece. Lenoir was considered a great entrepreneur of his time, inventing things, and selling them. At the time Lenoir thought he could combine an existing steam engine with a natural gas and electric ignition to make the first combustion engine. Lenoir did not take in the fact of moving transportation. The engine contained of two wheels and a crank rod, and different parts of a natural gas engine. A man by the name of Karl Benz of Germany is suggested to be the man credible for creating the first automobile. Benz had taken the idea of the natural gas line and the existing steam engine, which had been around since 1712. Benz had moved on and created his idea into the famous car manufacture Mercedes-Benz. (Technology's Past"1)

The car contains of over one thousand different pieces and several different types of engines, which simultaneously work together. It is more than just putting the key in the ignition and turning it on. The main key of the whole car working is Combustion. The engine most used in cars is called the internal combustion engine--combustion takes place internally. The main purpose for a gasoline car is that the engine will turn the gas into motion and move the car. Internal combustion is if you use a tiny amount of high-energy-fuel (such as gasoline) in a small enclosed space and you ignite it, it will create and incredible amount of energy. The main parts of a car are the driver train, engine, and transmission. These internal parts are the main key for a car to start and run. ("How cars work" 1)

How have cars evolved over time?

In the very beginning of building cars Americans lacked technology compared to the Europeans. Europe was creating new developments and was ahead in the starting gate of creating the first gas-powered automobile. "From when I first started car's are not the same, there is a lot more technical work now. Back in the 1970's and early 1980's, cars were mechanically easier to work on because there was more space to work with. Now there is so much wiring, metal it is so hard to get to some things, and they require professional mechanics." (Larre Rhodes). A fast car of the 60's and 70's could drive the quarter-mile in less than 13 seconds. The same cars today are running the quarter-mile in under 9 seconds. In thirty to forty years, cars have improved almost 3 seconds in time. That is an incredible amount of time in the quarter-mile stretch. The 1902 Stevens- Duryea was a