Minds of Their Own: A Chemical Reaction that Changes, then Changes Back! When you burn a piece of wood, you start with wood and oxygen, and end up with ashes, cabron dioxide, and water vapor. At no time during the reaction does wood reappear, even momentarily, from the ashes. Most chemical reactions are like this; they move in one direction, from reactants (starting chemicals) to products. In this chemistry science project, you will experiment with a rare and exotic reaction that oscillates. The reaction products appear and disappear for a number of cycles. Because the products are colored, the solution appears alternately blue, then yellow, then clear. The reaction is easy to set up, fun to watch, and opens up lots of ways to explore the nature of chemical reactions. Although it would be helpful if you have had a class in chemistry, you can still do this science project even if you have not. Salt Bridge Over Electrified Waters: How Electricity Changes pH You have probably heard the saying that water and electricity don't mix. Well, in this chemistry science fair project you will mix them, to create two solutions, one basic and one acidic. The apparatus is very simple, but the chemistry is complex and offers many avenues for exploration.Water to Fuel to Water: The Fuel Cycle of the Future Solar cells are popping up on rooftops everywhere these days and are a model for clean, renewable energy. Did you ever look at those solar panels and wonder how we can get electricity produced by solar cells when the sun is not shining? It is a great question because solar panels do not produce electricity when it is dark outside. One strategy to overcome this challenge is to store the energy produced by solar cells during the day in the form of a fuel that can be used at a later time. In this project, you will explore a cutting-edge method for storing renewable energy by breaking up water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen. The hydrogen and oxygen are fuels that can be burned in devices such as fuel cells to produce clean electricity when it is darkElectrolyte Challenge: Orange Juice vs. Sports Drink The makers of sports drinks spend millions of dollars advertising the benefits of their products. One of these featured benefits is often electrolytes, which your body loses as you sweat. In this chemistry science fair project, you will compare the electrolytes present in a sports drink with those in orange juice to find out which drink has more to replace the ones you lose as you're working out or playing sports. When you are finished, you might even want to make your own sports drink! Read more Saturated Solutions: Measuring Solubility Many essential chemical reactions and natural biochemical processes occur in liquid solutions, so understanding the chemical properties of liquid solutions is fundamentally important. This project asks the basic question, how much of a substance can dissolve in water, for three different substances: ordinary table salt, Epsom salts, and sugar
Fuel cell vehicles are nearly here
By: Tom Ripley
Date: Monday, 19. May 2008
Over the past year or so, we have had the chance to drive a number of fuel cell-powered vehicles. Each has been a remarkable motorcar, and perhaps the most remarkable thing about them is how unremarkable they are to drive. In our experience, their behavior is almost uncannily like conventional cars, which means two things: one, that fuel cell vehicles are not inherently quirky, and two, that the engineers did a good job developing systems so the electric drive systems mimic conventional gasoline-powered drivetrain operation. We can�t imagine that is an easy task since, unlike the typical gasoline or diesel automobile engine, the fuel cell doesn't use combustion to create power. Instead, it uses a simple chemical reaction to make electricity, which can then be either used to power an electric motor (or motors) and electronic features or stored in batteries for future use.
What powers a fuel cell? As we said, two of the most abundant elements on the globe: hydrogen and oxygen. It is stuff that, at first glance at least, seems pretty easy to come by, and the bonus is that when the chemical reaction takes place, the only byproduct is a little H2O. All the residue created by current internal combustion engines--you know, the particulates, nitrous oxides and carbon monoxide that give environmentalists nightmares--just vanish with the use of fuel cells.
As exciting as all this sounds, fuel cell-powered vehicles do have some hurdles to jump before they end up in your garage. As a study by Roland Berger Strategy Consultants noted, if fuel cell vehicles are to have significant long-term impact in the auto industry, automakers and suppliers must successfully address 12 commercialization challenges that loom over the auto fuel cell industry.
According to the study, the most difficult among the dozen challenges are low-cost infrastructure, vehicle range and power density of the fuel. The infrastructure question is especially vexing. The current gasoline fuel-supply infrastructure is both efficient and convenient, though consumers have grumbled about sky-high gasoline prices. Conceiving and then building a new fuel-delivery infrastructure that could transport, store and dispense highly volatile hydrogen, which is a gas in normal ambient temperatures, is a huge hurdle. Another big hurdle is that, while abundant, hydrogen rarely occurs in nature in its pristine state. Instead, it is usually part of a compound like water or hydrocarbon. Separating hydrogen for use as fuel takes effort and energy that must be factored into the overall equation.
Despite the hurdles, the study predicted a bright future for fuel cells. In the automotive realm, the think tank says vehicle-makers' commitment is strong and predicts that automakers and others will invest billions to develop and try to commercialize workable, low-cost fuel cell technology. Despite uncertainties concerning government regulations, technology implementation and customer acceptance, automakers remain steadfast in their pursuit of commercially viable fuel cell vehicles.
---Tom Ripley observes the international energy market, the automobile industry and the human condition from his home in Villeperce, France.
- Drivers.com -- articles and links on Greener Cars
- Drivers.com article: Green cars - gaining power from exhaust
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All Comments (8)
Showing 1 - 8 comments
Manuel,
Doug,
GM just announced that they will lease 100 hydrogen fuel cell Equinox vehicles to families across the USA in a large trial.
Steve,
Yeah, hydrogen is the way to go, in the US there are people already driving around in hydrogen powered cars (some of these people are movie stars) they are test vehicles, on trial - I heard that they are going pretty good too.
Janet,
If they can get the cost down, fuel cells will be great.
Steve,
If the car ran on fart power, Would you get 50 miles per can of beans ?
fred,
Ohh Yea Right Bet Its An Old Bangor lol, Wish I could run my car on fart power, then the prce of bean would go sky high
David,
Hi Everyone, I have just invented a car that will run on Sausages
Doogie,
Yeah, they've been saying this for years. But I still have hope.
However, keep in mind that an electric car can be bought today... it just needs to be plugged in at night for a few hours to charge. Adding a fuel cell is nice, but no need to wait, you can buy an electric car today.
