A four stroke engine operates in a cycle of intake, compression, power, and exhaust strokes. The intake stroke draws fuel and air into the cylinder with the piston moving down. In the compression stroke, both valves close and the piston compresses the fuel-air mixture. The power stroke ignites the compressed mixture to push the piston down. Finally, in the exhaust stroke the piston pushes gases out through the open exhaust valve as it returns to the top.