Since the invention of the internal combustion engine, scientists and engineers have worked to increase its efficiency. As it stands, the average internal combustion automobile engine converts only about 20 percent of its energy into useful motivational power. Most of the rest is consumed through heat loss at various points. An automobile's cooling system is used to remove heat from all moving parts so they can continue to function properly without melting, seizing, or overheating. If an engine were ideal, it would not release heat because all its energy would be converted into power transferred to the wheels, but in reality there is no such engine. With all the many moving parts that need to stay in contact with each other (to maintain compression and prevent various other leaks), friction is inevitable and so is heat. Therefore, the car's cooling system is extremely important. The way this works is basically a simple matter of heat transfer. Water-cooled vehicles use a combination of air and liquid cooling mechanisms, running coolant hoses past the hottest parts of the engine so that heat can transfer from the engine parts to the coolant, which then it returns to the radiator to be cooled by the incoming air. Air-cooled vehicles typically have large fans strategically installed on the engine and heat-dissipating fins on the heads. What may surprise some is that the heater in your car's cabin is actually a part of the car's cooling system. The heat removed from the engine is simply channeled into the cabin so the driver doesn't freeze to death in the dead of winter. Removing this heat draws cooler air into the engine compartment... middle of paper... I prefer to have clean air, myself... Conclusion It may seem that there are no significant benefits to the inefficiencies of internal combustion engines. After all, they waste fuel, resources and money; they pollute the environment and create potential health risks; and for some people, too much can go wrong with them to make it worth trying to understand. I, however, will always maintain my love for the intricately choreographed dance that takes place inside a combustion engine; all parts work in time to create a glorious, gas-guzzling, ozone-depleting, peace-disturbing hunk of steel, rubber, glass and aluminum that can go from 0 to 60 in a matter of seconds. And I'd love to hear someone curse their engine's inefficient heat loss when pumping 70° air into a -40° cabin at 6 a.m. in the middle of a freezing Fairbanks winter..