How to build a fuel cell and solar cell

[Toofan]

Hello all

 

I am planning at my chemistry project to build a toy car which runs on water, or actually hydrogen gauss. My idea was to add water in a container an create hydrogen gauss from the water by electrolyte with the help from the solar cell or small solar panell. Now I have searched every site on the net trying to find some sort of a manual that can show me how I can build these to key parts, but i found none. Ive heard you can build an easy solar panel by heating a flat cobber plate and such, but this sort of a panel brings you very little energy (rumors once again). I was wondering if you guys could help me at this. How do I buid a fuel cell and a solar panel?

 

Pardon my english btw

[YT2095]

you`ll probably not find find anything on the net as your idea as you`ve stated it is at the very least impractical.

1) you suffer losses of energy with every transitional

2) to scale a "Toy Car" would be insufficient for several reasons;

A) solar electrolysis requires large panels for a significant fuel source (burnable) so SIZE is a problem.

B) the engine to burn this fuel (if you had it) wouldn`t be scaleable to "TOY" size

C) the weight of all the needed parts combined would be "Toy" scale prohibitive. (think you must also carry your acidified water!).

 

the copper oxide plates in salt water will indeed demonstrate the photoelecric effect and when done propperly makes quite a handsome peice of demo kit

but extremely impractical for a "toy car" sorry

 

you`re better with solar energy direct to a motor, and you`ll have less weight and less losses of power

 

All the best

[Toofan]

Yeah I thought about that one, but I think your wrong. Size is not a problem, but the quality of the panel and how much percentage of the energy it can hold from the sun and pass it along. And since we only need energy for a toy car, we dont need much solar energy for a small canister of water. And the engine you are talking about, the fuel cell, can be buildt as small as possible as long as you have the room for an anode, cathode and an electrolyte, again depending on how much energy you need.

 

If the toy car is small and made by lightweight material, the energy needed to move it by the small motor, which I have built (ordinary electrical motor 1,5 V, similar to the ones in ordinary toy cars), is little. But these sizes and energy can be calculated and adjusted for the better with trial and error-

 

Now offcourse I can run the power straight from the solar panel to the electrical motor, but theres not alot of chemistry to be said in that experiment now would there, only physics (wavelengths, magnetism etc)

 

You must also remember that this is not a long circuit of electrical energy here, it goes form electrical to gauss, then from gauss to electricity then to the motor, so done correctly, the loss would be little.

 

No, the problem is not the size, but building the fuelcell which I have found a recipe on, and which is QUITE difficult (money, parts, equipment etc, simply an impossible recipe) and to build a lightweight solar panel. If anyone knows how to build a "simple" fuelcell which runs on hydrogen gaus and a way of creating an effective solar panel, I would be gratefull!

[greg1917]

YT2095 is correct Toofan, theres no way this project can possibly exist on a 'toy' scale - hydrogen engines arent all that small and if you want to power it from solar energy you'll need a pretty large solar panel to generate any decent amount of energy! In short this idea seems like a non starter to me.

 

there are other chemistry projects you can look at. In my last year at school I examined household products for the presence of carvone, a terpene enantiomer responsible for the smell of mint. This was a good experiment because it allowed me to research optical isomerism, terpenes as well as the chemistry behind the olfactory cells.

 

Other chemistry projects my classmates undertook were the deteremination of the mass of potassium in bananas, variation in saturated fat levels in chips from local chip shops and the school cafeteria, analysis of different salts in the school tap water supply, extraction of caffeiene from coffee, the synthesis of luminol (a good demonstration as well) - there are loads of projects which offer a variety of quantitive and qualititative analysis. The hydroegn fuel cell thing is almost an engineering project - what kind of level are you at anyway?

[aman]

Maybe if you make a track out of solar cells with a "hot" rail to power an electrolysis reaction and the car runs above powered by H2 explosions from H2O fuel?

Just aman

[Sayonara]

"Toy car" does not necessarily mean a Matchbox-sized toy, it could be four feet long.

[Toofan]

well this can be done simply because I have seen "Toy"cars on the nett which use this principal. And sayonara is right, with Toy car I dont mean matchbox car, but a model as small or large as it can be.

 

Aman, thats exactly what I am planning to do, but instead of exploding the H2 gauss, implanning to make it go thru a fuelcell.

 

greg1917, to answer your question, Im on my last year on college. yes its is true what you say, but I did not define the size, a toy car means simply a model as explained above. All the examples you have mentioned are good ideas and I will consider them if this does not work. But the fuelcell itself can be made at a size which is no larger than your hand. I have found a book on it, but the only thing holding me back on this is the membrene inside the cell which must consist of a special matter which is expensive and which I dont think they sell in my country, Norway that is.

 

Other than that, I have the motor, a small cannister and pipes which can lead gauss etc. I am planning to use cobber material in the water to electrolyte it, I dont know if there are any better options. If I am not able to make the solar panel, then Il replae it with a battery.

[Toofan]

But I would really like to use a solar panel, if that works, it would be running on a fuel-system which does not contaminate the environment. So if there are ppl with suggestions, e-books or sites they can refeer me to, please do.

 

Thank you

[YT2095]

all I`de like to know is WHY you wish to make Electricity, to then convert it hydrogen and oxygen, to pass it through a fuel cell just to convert it back into electricity again?

you WONT GAIN anything, and even without losses at 100% efficiency you`ll just be adding extra weight????

why not just go from step one to the end result and loose nothing?

forget the pracicality side of it all, PURE LOGIC should tell you that this is your better option

[Sayonara]

Because the aim of his chemistry project is to demonstrate the fuel cell principle in a practical application?

[YT2095]

if " Practical" was the idea, then it would certainly not pertain to post #1

[Sayonara]

Practical as in "not merely theoretical".

[YT2095]

I see practical as "Functional" the original idea was far from that

[Sayonara]

He's not trying to revolutionise mass transport, he's trying to demonstrate a principle for his college project.

 

Stop harassing him, Jeez.

[YT2095]

erm, who`s harassing whom?

I`m explaining basic fundementals, if someone doesn`t wish to apply/learn them, then fine!

they will however STILL apply!

 

[Toofan]

YT2095, I understand that your trying to help me, and I agree with youm if I were to build a car for Ford or Nissan which was going to run on solar power, offcourse I would connect it straight to the battery, its logical, but not when to have it as a chemistry project. Now can the debate go over on how I can build the fuel/power cell?

 

Thank you