[vex]

Fuel to the fire:

Engine displacement is the volume swept by all the pistons inside the cylinders of an internal combustion engine in a single movement from top dead centre (TDC) to bottom dead centre (BDC). It is commonly specified in cubic centimeters (cc), litres (l), or (mainly in North America) cubic inches (CID). Engine displacement does not include the total volume of the combustion chamber.

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/question685.htm

When the piston moves from top to bottom, it sucks in a certain amount of air. How much air it can suck in depends on how big around the piston is, and how far it moves when it goes from top to bottom.

Let's say that the piston in your car is 4 inches (10.16 centimeters) in diameter (also known as the bore), and it moves 4 inches from top to bottom (also known as the stroke). That means that one piston in your engine can suck in:

radius ^ 2 * pi * height = volume of a cylinder
5.08 cm (bore/2) ^ 2 * 3.14 * 10.16 cm (stroke) = 823.3 cubic centimeters

If your car has 4 cylinders, then it has a has a total displacement of:

4 * 823.3 cubic centimeters = 3,292.1 cubic centimeters, or 3.292 liters
A car manufacturer would round that up and say that your car has a 3.3-liter engine. This means that the displacement of this particular engine is 3.3 liters. If you were to turn the crankshaft of this engine through two complete revolutions, the four pistons would inhale a total of 3.3 liters of air.

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-engine-displacement.htm

Engine displacement refers to the volume swept by all the pistons in an engine. It does not include the volume of air above the piston where the initial spark fires. Engine displacement can be calculated with the following formula:

Engine displacement = π/4 * (cylinder diameter)2 * stroke * number of cylinders

Engine displacement is the volume swept by all the pistons inside the cylinders of an internal combustion engine in a single movement from top dead centre (TDC) to bottom dead centre (BDC). It is commonly specified in cubic centimeters (cc), litres (l), or (mainly in North America) cubic inches (CID). Engine displacement does not include the total volume of the combustion chamber.

Read more: http://www.answers.com/topic/engine-...#ixzz1ORxci7w9

http://www.answers.com/topic/engine-displacement