There was the second annual hydrogen fuel cell car challenge today. Kids from local high school kids built and raced their own hydrogen-powered fuel cell cars. Wow, I thought. Teenagers are developing materials to make a new generation of fuel cells. Are we on the edge of the hydrogen revolution after all?
I was even more impressed when I saw the bits of kit they were using – balloons, string, a few drinking straws and a bit of blue-tack.
It seems I was a little naiive, and maybe slightly over-estimating the state of technologies in US schools. The fuel cell and a motors were provided to the entrants in advance. This means that the real challenge is one of engineering a lightweight and speedy car. Still, that’s no mean feat, especially when each team only received the cell and motor the day before. These cars were whizzing along their race track, which must be about 10 metres long, in a matter of a few seconds. And the teams still had to work out how to harness the power from the fuel cell.
One of the early favourites during the heats showed me his car and explained how the cell hydrolyses water to hydrogen and oxygen, which was stored in two syringes and these were used to charge a motor. Others were storing the gas in balloons and some had wheels made of old CDs, like huge dragsters, others were tiny little things the size of your hand.
The final was a tense affair, one of the teams disappeared to charge their car again, then the finish line judges disappeared as well. But the background sound of a Harley revving it’s engine kept us all entertained while we waited. And they’re off! The winning car came in at a track-record beating 4.32 seconds. Well done Norwell high school.
It’s a bit disappointing to see how male-dominated the teams were. But at least the winning team had a couple of girls in it. I was impressed by the grasp of the science that must be needed to understand and build these little machines and it’s a shame that the kids didn’t get more support from the rest of the meeting attendees. But with umpteen parallel scientific sessions going on at once, dipping out to re-live your meccano-esque childhood is a bit of a luxury I suppose.
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