The document discusses flywheels and their use in internal combustion engines. It makes three key points:
1. Flywheels are used to store energy generated during the power stroke of each cylinder and release it more uniformly to keep the crankshaft rotating at a steady speed, compensating for the intermittent power impulses from pistons.
2. The proportion of energy from each cycle that must be stored in the flywheel decreases as the number of cylinders increases, since the overlap of power strokes is greater and other rotating engine parts have more inertia.
3. A flywheel absorbs energy when supply exceeds demand, increasing its rotational speed, and releases energy when demand exceeds supply, decreasing its speed