DISTRIBUTOR IN A MARUTI ZEN CAR ENGINE

ELECTRICAL PARAMETERS OF THE SPARK CIRCUIT

1.   12 volt battery---the battery seen inside the car

2    Switch

3.Condensor

4.primary coil of solenoid also called induction coil

5.Spark plug

Distributor in a car engine distributes spark  from the induction coil to the four spark plugs of the four cylinders in the engine.

This is a wonderful DC circuit that works like an AC through constant contact and disconnection of the switch shown as    2   in the diagram which is operated by a cam.

When switch  2 is closed the primary of the induction coil gets charged creating high potential energy stored in the magnetic field of the coil which has primary and secondary turns.When the switch is opened the magnetic field collapses suddenly and creates a large voltage of 24000 volts or 24 KV discharged at the spark plug creating an instantaneous spark.The condenser 3 prevents any accidental sparking across switch  2.

What a marvellous invention?

note that the spark plug and battery are the two components external to the distributor. others are inside the enclosure.