Hydrogen Fuel Cells: Hydrogen on earth is most commonly found in H2O or water. Hydrogen fuel cells use water to create energy, they use two electrodes, the anode and the cathode, these however are separated by a membrane. Hydrogen passes over an electrode and oxygen passes over the other. The Hydrogen reacts on the anode and changes the Hydrogen into two separate parts, negatively charged electrons (e-) and Positive Ions of Hydrogen (H+). After the reaction occurs the electrons are released as electrical energy, whilst the hydrogen goes back through the membrane to the cathode where it combines with oxygen and the electrons to produce water (H2O). And In our project we got this process started by having water in our cells and charging the cell with a solar panel. The cells were not very efficient because the solar cells were not harnessing very much energy and so the energy produced by the cells was very minimal, but the cells did end up producing along with the solar cells, enough energy to move our cars.
Solar Cells: use energy from the sun or by light to give off electrical energy. Solar Cells use the photons emitted from the sun (or by other light sources that in my experiences are less effective) to knock electrons out of atoms, there is a electrical imbalance that holds the loose electrons and forces them to flow in the same direction which creates an electric current. Solar Cells are not the most efficient power source, most work only at a range of 16%-22% but for this project it gave us just enough energy to move our cars. We ended up using the Solar Cells only which ended up working out better than having 2 energy sources, one being the Hydrogen fuel cell and the other being the Solar Cell.
Series and Parallel Circuits: In a series circuit the amount of energy or voltage that is produced is slightly greater than that of a parallel circuit, but unlike a parallel circuit if one of the components in the series malfunctions then the entire series will collapse and be not useable until the component is fixed or replaced. In our project the most important asset of the power source was the voltage, and the best overall power source was the AAA batteries but there were two AAA batteries, one in parallel and one in series and when we measured we found that the one in series did in fact have a higher voltage then the one in parallel.
Summary: I feel like the project was a major success, even though the hydrogen fuel cells were not very efficient and created minimal voltage/power, and the solar cells produced minimal voltage/power to our cars the cars still moved and we got to learn how to hook up different energy sources to series and to parallel circuits to see which one was more effective for the specific project. In this case the series was the most effective because voltage was the primary asset for the cars movement. It was also really cool being able to use the motors and the gear trains together to create a smoothly moving vehicle, and even though only 1 car made it past the finish line, I feel like all of the cars were very well made, if we had more time they could of been even better and would have been able to run on just the solar cells and the hydrogen fuel cells, it was a process and that's what this project was teaching us, it was how to go through a process and the construction of building something under limited conditions and limited power and make it work. It also helps that it was a fun project and everyone in the class really got involved in working as hard as they could to finish their projects to see them working off of a battery and with just a fuel cell or a solar cell.
CONCLUSION QUESTIONS
1. two AAA batteries in a series
2. Voltage
3. 2 solar modules and connect them to a series to get the most voltage out of it.
4. 3 Hydrogen fuel cells and also connect them to the series to get the most voltage out of it.
5. use a solar panel all the time but while simultaneously charging a hydrogen fuel cell for when there isn't enough light to power the solar panel alone.
6. photovoltaic cells work using the photoelectric effect, solar cells use photons from the sun that hit silicon atoms and knock off the electrons off and with the electrical imbalance in the cells, it holds the loose electrons together and forces them to flow in the same direction. (http://www.physics.org/article-questions.asp?id=51)
7.the water upon entering the cell the hydrogen and oxygen split, and the hydrogen goes over the anode and chemically combines with the catalyst and the hydrogen atoms loose their electrons which give off the electrical energy and then the hydrogen turns around and goes over the cathode which chemically combines the hydrogen and the oxygen back together and also combines a electron back from the one the hydrogen lost during the original chemical reaction.
1. two AAA batteries in a series
2. Voltage
3. 2 solar modules and connect them to a series to get the most voltage out of it.
4. 3 Hydrogen fuel cells and also connect them to the series to get the most voltage out of it.
5. use a solar panel all the time but while simultaneously charging a hydrogen fuel cell for when there isn't enough light to power the solar panel alone.
6. photovoltaic cells work using the photoelectric effect, solar cells use photons from the sun that hit silicon atoms and knock off the electrons off and with the electrical imbalance in the cells, it holds the loose electrons together and forces them to flow in the same direction. (http://www.physics.org/article-questions.asp?id=51)
7.the water upon entering the cell the hydrogen and oxygen split, and the hydrogen goes over the anode and chemically combines with the catalyst and the hydrogen atoms loose their electrons which give off the electrical energy and then the hydrogen turns around and goes over the cathode which chemically combines the hydrogen and the oxygen back together and also combines a electron back from the one the hydrogen lost during the original chemical reaction.