produced by a reciprocating engine fluctuates during any one cycle. The manner in which it varies depends upon the type of engine, number of cylinders, the characteristics of the flywheel etc. It can usually be assumed that the resisting torque due to the load
the engine will be accelerating; and vice versa.
If there are

complete cycles per minute and the engine speed is

Then the power transmitted is
i.e.

= The mean height of the turning moment diagram
For any period during which

the area cut off on the turning moment diagram represents "excess energy"

, which will go to increase the speed of the rotating parts.
where

is the moment of inertia of the flywheel and rotating parts and

and

are the maximum and minimum speeds during one cycle.
Thus,
This can be re-written to include the mean speed

as:

(Approximately)
The coefficient of fluctuation of speed is:
This is usually expressed as a percentage variation from the mean. i.e.
In simple cases

is given by the area of one "loop" intercepted between

and

, but for multi-cylinder engines a further analysis is necessary. (See Example 5)