Component parts of internal combustion engines

An internal combustion engine is like a magic box that makes your car move forward. Inside this box, there are three parts that work together to make it happen: the air, the fuel, and the spark.

The air comes in through the front of the box and gets mixed with the fuel. The fuel is like a special potion that can burn really fast when it gets hot. But it needs the air to help it burn.

The next part is the spark. This is like a tiny lightning bolt that appears inside the magic box. It comes from a special tool called a spark plug. When the spark plug makes the spark, it sets off the potion so it burns really fast. This makes a huge explosion, and that explosion pushes something called a piston.

A piston is like a toy car with springs inside. When you push it down, it bounces back up again. But instead of springs, inside the engine, there is a big metal rod that helps it move up and down. When the explosion pushes the piston, it moves down, and then bounces back up really fast.

The piston is attached to something called a crankshaft. This is like the handle on an old-fashioned water pump. When you turn the handle, the pump moves up and down really fast. But in an engine, the crankshaft turns around in a circle. This is because there are more than one pistons inside the magic box, and they all need to move in different directions. The crankshaft helps make this happen.

Finally, there is something called a camshaft. This is like a little robot that tells everything else what to do. It has lots of little bumps on it that push different parts around at different times. When the camshaft turns around, it tells the piston when to move, and when to stop. It also tells the spark plug when to make the spark.

All of these parts work together to make your car move really fast. And that's how an internal combustion engine works!