1. Nikolaus Otto
   Charles Duryea
2. Samuel Brown
   Louis Chevrolet

Although many had made their own form of internal combustion engine before him, it was the compressed charge, four-cycle internal combustion engine patented in 1876 that is considered the first that could be used in a motor vehicle.

1. True
2. False

In 1879, German engineer Karl Benz perfected his own design of a two-stroke internal combustion engine. This became the powerplant for the first ever car in 1885, the Benz Patent Motorwagen.

1. Rudolf Diesel
   Frank Whittel
2. John Francis Dodge
   William C. Durant

It was Rudolf Diesel who invented the diesel powered compressed charge, compression ignition engine. His first engine ran in 1892. It was large, however, and Diesel spent the next years perfecting his creation.

1. Water
   Oil
2. Biofuel
   Ethanol

Early engines ran on a variety of fuels. From 1892, diesel became an option but early diesel engines wouldn't fit in a car. Gasoline was the most common propellant but others included ethanol and even kerosene.

1. 1889
   1972
2. 1960
   1956

The first rotary internal combustion engine was produced in 1899. It differs from a regular internal combustion engine in the fact that the intake, compression, combustion and exhaust are all performed in their own section of the engine. In a regular engine, this takes place within each cylinder.

1. Robert Bosch
   Félix Millet
2. Karl Benz
   Wilhelm Maybach

Félix Millet is considered to have invented the rotary engine. He first patented it in 1888 and used early engines to propel bicycles. In 1895, a vehicle using his design entered the Paris-Bordeaux-Paris motor race, while the engine was used in vehicles produced by Darracq and Company London from 1900.

1. True
2. False

Yes, the gas turbine is an internal combustion engine. Why? Well, the combustion process takes place within the engine and that generates power to move the vehicle. Gas turbine engines include turbojets, turboprops and turbofans.

1. Maxime Guillaume
   Frank Whittle
2. Hans von Ohain
   None of the above

Frank Whittle, an English engineer, together with his team ran the first turbojet on April 12, 1937. Interestingly, at the time, the British government had no interest in the new powerplant, but Whittle persisted.

1. Camshaft
   Crankshaft
2. Spark plug
   Boiler

An internal combustion engine will have a crankshaft, a camshaft and anything from 1 to 8 spark plugs (in most cases). It won't have a boiler. This is part of a steam engine and is where water is boiled and turned to steam which helps power the engine.

1. Rocker arm
   Spark plug
2. Fission rod
   Piston pin clip

There is one spark plug for each cylinder in the engine. It is tasked to provide the spark that will ignite the air/fuel mixture after it has been compressed. This combustion produces the power stroke, which again moves the piston which will power your car, well with a few parts linked in between.

1. Through a flame
   From an electrical current from the coil
2. Via the cambelt
   None of the above

Although the spark plug sparks to ignite the air/fuel mixture, it receives that spark from the coil. The spark is transmitted as electricity down high tension wires from the coil to each plug.

1. High tension leads
   Fan belt
2. Linchpin
   None of the above

The high tension leads conduct the electrical current from the ignition coil to the spark plugs, which create the spark to start combustion in the engine.

1. Alfred Buchi
   Henry Ford
2. Charles Rolls
   Henry Royce

Swiss engineer and inventor Alfred Buchi was the man behind the turbocharger. Interestingly, the materials and fuels he needed at the time to implement his idea were not available at that time in motoring history.

1. 1905
   1999
2. 1820
   1971

The idea for the turbocharger was patented by Alfred Buchi in 1905. A later patent followed in 1925, which gave us the modern turbocharger.

1. Supermarine Spitfire
   Heinkel He 178
2. North American P51 Mustang
   Sopwith Pup

On Aug. 27, 1939, the Heinkel He 178 became the first aircraft to fly using a turbojet engine, a form of the internal combustion engine. Within four years, Germany had employed turbojet aircraft in their air force in an attempt to win World War II. It was a case of too little, too late, however.

1. Coolant
   Oil
2. Gasoline
   Ethanol

In engines, coolant is stored in the radiator. As the engine heat increases, a thermostat regulates the release of coolant from the engine. Flowing through the engine, the coolant will reduce the overall temperature.

1. Nitrogen
   A mixture of air and gasoline
2. Fluorine
   Chlorine

The air/gasoline mixture is ignited by the spark from the spark plug, prompting the combustion necessary to keep the engine running. Gases created from this are expelled from the engine through the exhaust system.

1. V8
   2-stroke
2. Four-cylinder engine
   W16

Most modern cars today are four-stroke engines, especially in sedans. Off course, vehicles such as pickups and large SUVs can have larger engines that power them, for example, V8's while the W16 (two V8's next to each other) is found in the Bugatti Veyron and Chiron hypercars.

1. Exhaust stroke
   Intake stroke
2. Combustion stroke
   Compression stroke

The exhaust stroke, the final in the stroke cycle within the cylinder, sees the exhaust gases produced from the combustion of the air/fuel mixture leave the engine. This is achieved as it exits through the exhaust manifold, down the exhaust system, and out the tailpipe.

1. Felix Wankel
   Ferdinand Porsche‎
2. Enzo Ferrari
   None of the above

We have German engineer Felix Wankel to thank for the engine that bears his name. This engine has a rotary design, making it very different from a regular internal combustion engine. Rotary motion within the engine is started and maintain through pressure.

1. Modern engine use compression, older engines did not.
   Older engines never used oil.
2. Older engines needed a small fire built in a special compartment to help to start.
   Modern engines are less powerful.

That's right. Modern internal combustion engines use compression to squeeze the air/fuel mixture which in turn leads to more intense combustion when a spark is added. In older engines, the air/fuel mixture was blown or sucked into the cylinder.

1. Tender
   Crankshaft
2. Steam dome
   Superheater tubes

A crankshaft is a crucial part in any engine. It helps to transfer the up and down motion - a linear motion - into a rotational one. This, in turn, will eventually be transferred through the driveshaft to the wheels and the car will move forward, depending on the gear selected.

1. Cylinder block
   Glow plug
2. Radiator
   Oil filter

You will only find a glow plug in a diesel-powered engine. These help to aid the starting process by heating the engine to ensure all the fuel is burnt during combustion. Why? Well, during a very cold start, the engine often cannot burn all the fuel off. Glow plugs stop this problem.

1. It provides lubrication for moving parts.
   It cools the engine.
2. It reduces engine noise.
   None of the above

There are many metal parts within the engine. These need lubrication, which motor oil provides, ensuring that they do not wear out quickly.

1. Side to side
   Round and round
2. Up and down
   None of the above

Pistons are found within the cylinder in the engine. Each cylinder will have its own piston. For example, a four-cylinder car has four pistons. These pistons move up and down within the cylinder, depending on what stroke of the running cycle of the engine they are on.

1. Intake stroke
   Combustion stroke
2. Exhaust stroke
   Compression stroke

The combustion stroke, the third of four strokes an internal combustion engine takes, is the one in which the air/fuel mixture ignites. This combustion is caused by the spark provided by a spark plug in gasoline-powered engines.

1. Boxer
   Ramjet
2. Kite
   Turboprop

A boxer engine, or horizontally opposed engine, sees cylinders arranged on either side of a crankshaft. They are found in vehicles from both Porsche and Subaru, among others.

1. Thermostat
   Valve
2. Piston
   Cambelt

The valves within an internal combustion engine play two important roles. First, they open to let gas into the cylinder where it will be ignited and then they open again to let the gases formed from the combustion process out.

1. True
2. False

Yes! Cannons are simple internal combustion engines. Why? Well, the cannonball is compressed into the barrel, a propellant is added in the form of gunpowder. It is combusted by fire (much like a spark from a spark plug) and the gases from that expand, pushing the cannonball out the barrel.

1. Gasoline
2. Diesel

Diesel engines are more efficient than the gasoline counterparts. In fact, a gasoline engine is only around 20% effective. That means of the fuel used to run it, only around 20% is actually consumed effectively. In a diesel engine, this figure is around 40%.

1. Power stroke
   Combustion stroke
2. Intake stroke
   Exhaust stroke

The first stroke within a cylinder of an internal combustion engine is the intake stroke. This sees the valves open to introduce the air/fuel mixture into the cylinder.

1. Blower
   Air intake manifold
2. Air sensor
   Catalytic converter

The air intake manifold allows the gas/air mixture into the cylinders. It then distributes it to the intake ports equally.

1. Intake stroke
   Exhaust stroke
2. Combustion stroke
   Compression stroke

Once within the cylinder, the air/fuel mixture is compressed. This means more energy is released when the air/fuel mixture is ignited during the combustion stroke.

1. Yes
2. No

At higher altitudes, gasoline-powered internal combustion engines are less powerful than at sea-level, for example. Why? Well, at higher altitude, air is thinner, that means fewer air molecules are used in the engine, which then requires less gas in the air/fuel mix. And that means a drop in power.

1. Gasoline
2. Diesel

Diesel is far less flammable than gasoline. In fact, you could throw a match into a puddle of diesel and it would go out. Try that with gasoline and it will ignite before it even hits the puddle thanks the gases rising above the puddle.