Poppet valve

A poppet valve (also called mushroom valve) is a valve typically used to control the timing and quantity of gas or vapour flow into an engine.

It consists of a hole, usually round or oval, and a tapered plug, usually a disk shape on the end of a shaft also called a valve stem. The portion of the hole where the plug meets with it is referred to as the 'seat' or 'valve seat'. The shaft guides the plug portion by sliding through a valve guide. In exhaust applications a pressure differential helps to seal the valve and in intake valves a pressure differential helps open it. Poppet valves date from at least the 1770s, when James Watt used them on his steam engines.