Supercharger

I realize that this question has probably been asked and answered somewhere in the past, but even using the search i couldnt find it... so here it goes.

How does a supercharger work. I've heard people tell me that it works to increase power from the exhaust but then i look at some pictures and i see it mounted on the top of the engine. Also, is a supercharger the same as a blower?

Im getting really confused on the skematics of it all and i would really appreciate some help.

Thanks

it does not use exaust gas to work itself. instead they are belt driven. as the engine turns its crank, so does the pulley thats on the supercharger.

there are different kinds of superchargers. the one you seen probably was a twin root/twin screw type of charger.

a supercharger is a blower. a turbercharger is a blower. both are blowers. some superchargers such as the centrifugal type supercharger looks like a turbo, and acts like a turbo too! except its driven by the belt instead of the exaust.

I know about turbochargers and superchargers and even I was confused by GSteg response. Basically for a car to run you need 2 things air and gas. Blowers provide more air by forcing compressed air into the engine. The blowers are generally driven by the engine in one of 2 ways. Turbo chargers- where the exhaust gasses are used to mechanically suck air in to the engine(think of how a windmill works). And a Supercharger where the suction is run by a belt and pully system off the engine crank. They also have what called a Twin chrger which is a combination of these two methods. hope that helps.

See if this post helps at all:

http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/t417.html