Gasoline engine (also referred to as petrol engine or Otto engine) invented at the end of the 19th century by German engineer Nikolaus Otto is a type of internal combustion engine which is often used for automobiles, aircraft, small mobile vehicles such as lawnmowers or motorcycles, and outboard motors for boats. Nikolaus August Otto (June 14, 1832 - January 28, 1891) was the German inventor of the internal-combustion engine. ... A colorized automobile engine An internal combustion engine is an engine that is powered by the expansion of hot combustion products of fuel directly acting within an engine. ... A small variety of cars, the most popular kind of automobile. ... An aircraft is any machine capable of atmospheric flight. ... Imme R 100,Germany, 1948/1949 A 125 cc motorcycle, the Italian-manufactured Cagiva Planet. ... An outboard motor is a propulsion system for boats. ...

The most common engine of this type is a four-stroke cycle internal combustion engine that burns gasoline (in American English) or petrol (Commonwealth English). Burning is initiated by an ignition system that fires a high voltage spark through a sparkplug, in contrast to the Diesel engine which ignites the fuel through high compression. The two-stroke cycle type of engine is often used for smaller, lighter and cheaper applications but it is less fuel efficient and, partly as a result, produces more hydrocarbon exhaust emissions. The four-stroke (4 Stroke) cycle (or Otto Cycle as it is technically referred to) of an internal combustion engine is the cycle most commonly used for automotive and industrial purposes today (cars and trucks, generators, etc). ... A colorized automobile engine An internal combustion engine is an engine that is powered by the expansion of hot combustion products of fuel directly acting within an engine. ... Gasoline, as it is known in North America, or petrol (abbreviated from petroleum spirit), in many Commonwealth countries (sometimes also called motor spirit) is a petroleum-derived liquid mixture consisting primarily of hydrocarbons, used as fuel in internal combustion engines. ... American English (AmE) is the form of the English language used mostly in the United States of America. ... Commonwealth English is intended as a collective term for the perceived standard English language used in the Commonwealth of Nations1, applying in theory to Australian English, British English, Caribbean English, Canadian English, Hiberno-English (Irish English)2, Hong Kong English3, Indian English (includes Pakistani English), New Zealand English, and South... The ignition system of an internal-combustion engine is an important part of the overall engine system. ... This article or section should include material from Spark gap A spark plug is an electrical device that fits into the cylinder head of some internal combustion engines and ignites compressed aerosol gasoline by means of an electric spark. ... The diesel engine is a type of internal combustion engine; more specifically, it is a compression ignition engine, in which the fuel is ignited by being suddenly exposed to the high temperature and pressure of a compressed gas containing oxygen (usually atmospheric air), rather than a separate source of ignition... There are several types of compression: physical compression data compression multimedia compression image compression audio compression video compression bandwidth compression audio level compression compression (functional analysis) This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... The two-stroke cycle of an internal combustion engine differs from the more common four-stroke cycle by having only two strokes (linear movements of the piston) instead of four, although the same four operations (intake, compression, power, exhaust) still occur. ...

Wankel engines can also use gasoline as their fuel. Wankel Engine in Deutsches Museum Munich, Germany The Wankel rotary engine is a type of internal combustion engine, invented by German engineer Felix Wankel, which uses a rotor instead of reciprocating pistons. ...

HCCIs can also use gasoline as their fuel. Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition, or HCCI, is a form of internal combustion in which well mixed fuel and oxidizer (typically air) are compressed to the point of auto-ignition. ...

One component in older engines is the carburator, which mixes the gasoline with air. In later engines the carburetor is replaced with fuel injection. The carburetor (American spelling, carburettor or carburetter in Commonwealth countries, carb for short) is a device which mixes air and fuel for an internal-combustion engine. ... Fuel injection is a technology used in internal combustion engines to mix the fuel with air prior to combustion. ...

With minor modifications, the gasoline engine can be made to run on other fuels. Use of natural gas, for instance, is easy, since it is already a gas and mixes readily with air; many automobiles have been modified to run on natural gas, or to be able to switch back and forth from natural gas to gasoline. Alcohol is another fuel often used, although the fuel delivery system has to be modified to deliver a greater volume of fuel. Applications such as drag racing where peak power output is more important than engine longetivity add nitrogen-containing fuels like nitromethane for this purpose. Natural gas (commonly refered to as gas in many countries, but note that this is also American and Canadian slang for gasoline) is a gaseous fossil fuel consisting primarily of methane. ... In general usage, alcohol (from Arabic al-khwl الكحول, or al-ghawl الغول) refers almost always to ethanol, also known as grain alcohol, and often to any beverage that contains ethanol (see alcoholic beverage). ... Drag racing is a form of auto racing in which cars or motorcycles attempt to complete a fairly short, straight and level course in the shortest amount of time. ... Nitromethane is a chemical compound with chemical formula CH3NO2. ...