Does the throttle control air intake or fuel intake?
2 Answers
Throttle controls air intake, here are the details: 1. The throttle controls the air intake through the throttle valve. After the air intake is determined, the engine computer will decide how much fuel to inject based on this air intake. The throttle valve helps achieve the optimal air-fuel ratio, ensuring complete combustion of gasoline and maximizing energy utilization for power generation. 2. Introduction to gasoline engines. Gasoline engines rely on spark plugs to ignite the fuel. The air and gasoline form a mixture that enters the cylinder. When the piston approaches the top dead center, the spark plug ignites the mixture, and the flame spreads outward from the spark plug until complete combustion occurs. This process requires a certain amount of time.
I remember that when driving, pressing the accelerator pedal mainly controls the air intake rather than directly controlling the fuel supply. This is because the throttle is connected to the throttle body. When I press it down, the throttle opens wider, allowing more air to enter the engine. Then, the vehicle's computer system adjusts the fuel injection from the injectors based on this air intake, ensuring the proper air-fuel mixture before ignition and combustion. This way, power increases, and the car accelerates. If I mistakenly thought of it as controlling fuel supply, it could lead to misunderstandings about maintenance issues, such as a dirty throttle body affecting air intake efficiency, which requires regular cleaning. Overall, this design is very common in gasoline-powered cars to ensure efficiency and safety. Modern cars now also include additional sensors, like mass airflow sensors, to make air intake even more precise, resulting in smoother driving. During long drives, I often notice that the depth of the accelerator pedal directly affects the response speed because the air intake is being adjusted, while the fuel simply follows these changes.
