For over a century people have relied on cars, planes and trains as a means of transportation, industry and agriculture, it has become such a successful necessity in the modern world that it has become a need people to use them to move forward. Now certainly the three basic means of transport are completely different in the way they work and in their use. All these means of transportation would not be possible without this invention transportation would not be possible, the internal combustion engine. You may be wondering what exactly is an internal combustion engine? It's actually a simple concept but the way it is executed can become very complex. The function of is to create a pulling force through a controlled explosion of compressed air and fuel inside a combustion chamber which then drives a crank. Depending on what type of platform the engine is on will determine what the crank turns, for example in a car the crank then turns a front or rear axle which that axle turns a wheel transversely. For this engine to work it needs three elements: air, fuel and spark and without one of these elements the engine will not work, so precise timing and careful planning from engineers is required to make the engine work as required. The invention of the internal combustion engine has completely altered and changed not only the way we move through cars, planes and trains, but also the way industry evolves and with it bridges the gap from an agricultural economy to an industrial economy. As modern technologies advanced throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, people dealing with internal combustion came to rely on its power. The internal combustion engine is not simply a Over 150 years ago...... middle of paper......, n.d. Web. February 18, 2014. http://www.technicianonline.com/news/article_1195adfe- 985c-11e3-bfb8-001a4bcf6878.html>."Facts about hydrogen." Drive clean. Np, nd Web. February 3, 2014. “How Car Engines Work.” How things work. Np, nd Web. 17 February 2014. "How is hydrogen fuel produced? - Alternative Energy - ProCon.org." ProConorg Securities. Np, nd Web. 17 February 2014. “Hydrocarbons.” Hydrocarbons. Np, nd Web. February 3, 2014. “Is Hydrogen the Fuel of the Future?” About.com Environmental issues. Np, nd Web. 3 February. 2014. .