Compression stroke
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The compression stroke is the second of four stages in an otto cycle or diesel cycle internal combustion engine.
In this stage, the air is compressed to the top of the cylinder by the piston until it is either ignited by a spark plug as in an otto engine or, as in the case of a diesel engine, reaches the point at which the fuel spontaneously combusts, forcing the piston back down.
Compression serves to increase the proportion of energy which can be extracted from the hot gas and should be as high as is practical for a given application.
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