François Isaac de Rivaz was born on December 19, 1752, in Paris, and died on July 30, 1828, in Sion. He was a French-born Swiss inventor and politician. In 1807, he described an engine that used hydrogen and electricity in a French patent. In 1808, he placed this engine in an early working vehicle, which is known as the world's first automobile powered by an internal combustion engine.

Biography

Isaac was born in Paris. His family was from Valais, which is now part of Switzerland. His father, Pierre de Rivaz, was born in Saint-Gingolph. He moved to Paris in 1748 and became a clockmaker and industrialist. In 1763, the family moved to Moûtiers in Savoy, which was part of the Kingdom of Sardinia. Later, Isaac and his brother Anne-Joseph moved to Saint-Gingolph. It is not known which schools Isaac attended, but he learned Latin and mastered math and geometry. He continued studying mechanics his whole life. He became a surveyor and notary and worked for the state of Valais.

Isaac had many interests and a very curious mind. His curiosity drove him to explore many areas. He did many experiments. In the late 18th century, he experimented with steam-powered vehicles. He also studied how combustible gases ignite.

Internal combustion engine

After retiring from the Army and moving to Switzerland, he built a simple internal combustion engine in 1807. The engine used a mix of hydrogen and oxygen, which was started with an electric spark. However, the engine did not use compression inside the cylinder, a crank, or a connecting rod. One year later, Isaac built an early automobile to be powered by his new engine.

Alternative claims for internal combustion engines

In 1807, Nicéphore Niépce placed his Pyréolophore internal combustion engine, which used moss, coal dust, and resin as fuel, in a boat. He powered the boat along the Saone River in France, and Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte granted him a patent. Around the same time, another design for an internal combustion engine was used in a different type of vehicle. This means the de Rivaz engine, used in a car in 1808, was the first to apply an internal combustion engine to an automobile. Meanwhile, the Pyréolophore, used in a ship in 1807, was the first to apply an internal combustion engine to a boat.

Although de Rivaz’s engine is recognized as the first use of an internal combustion engine in a car, the engine was not widely developed or produced in large numbers until the late 1800s.

In 1824, the French physicist Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot created a scientific theory about how ideal heat engines work. This theory showed that the early designs of internal combustion engines had a problem: they needed a way to increase the temperature difference between the hot and cold parts of the engine to produce enough power and efficiency. Gasoline was not used in internal combustion engines until 1870, when carburetors were invented. These devices changed liquid fuels into a gas that could burn easily.