A radial arrangement places cylinders in a circle around the crankshaft and is used almost exclusively in aircraft engines.

Combustion is the burning of an air-fuel mixture to provide energy. It requires the presence of air, fuel, and a heat source to ignite the air-fuel mixture. In the internal combustion engine that powers automobiles and trucks the combustion happens inside the engine utilzing a fuel like gasoline, diesel fuel, or natural gas.

A head gasket is a gasket that sits between the engine block and cylinder heads to seal the cylinders to ensure maximum compression and avoid leakage of coolant or engine oil into the cylinders.

Normal combustion in an engine is initiated by a spark plug and results in the complete burning of the air-fuel mixture. If combustion is initiated by a source other than the spark plug, by a hot spot in the cylinder or combustion chamber for example, pre-ignition results. Detonation results if the air-fuel mixture explodes instead of burning. Detonation can cause extremes in pressure in the combustion chamber leading to engine damage.

The crankshaft converts the reciprocating motion of the piston into the rotational motion that's used to power the vehicle and its components.