A shoe-box size car running on the same chemical reaction that powers a baking soda and vinegar volcano science project led eight U chemical engineering students to win second place in a regional competition last weekend and qualify for nationals.
John Peckham, a senior in chemical engineering, traveled to Colorado for the Chem-E-Car Competition with his team, made up of seven other chemical engineering students. The team will go to Tennessee in the fall for the national competition to compete against other qualified university-level teams designing a small car that runs off some form of a chemical reaction. This is the third time U students will compete in the national competition.
“The goal is to get the car to go a certain distance, which isn’t known until we get to the competition,” Peckham said.
Kevin Whitty, associate professor and team adviser, said the distance the car has to go is always between 50 and 100 feet. At the conference, the students had to make the car go 60 feet.
Not knowing the distance created a challenge for U students last weekend. The students have to understand the chemical reaction well enough to judge how much to mix and put in the car to have it travel the correct distance.
“We calibrate the tank to go as far as we need it to go,” Peckham said.The team’s car ran solely off the reaction from sodium bicarbonate and acidic acid, which produces carbon dioxide and can be used to move the car forward.
“It’s pretty much baking soda and vinegar,” Peckham said. “If you’ve ever seen the volcanoes kids make in science projects, that’s pretty much what we do to make a car run.”
Whitty said all the pressure from the canister in the car flows through a little motor that makes it run.
The teams are allowed to choose the chemical reaction used for their car, excusing a few that the regulations committee considers too dangerous to allow, Whitty said.
“There’s a lot of focus on the safety of the car,” Whitty said. “The pressure can be explosive if not controlled correctly.” If a reaction is deemed unsafe by the judges, the team responsible is disqualified.
Peckham said teams are allowed to choose what type of motor to use, including fuel cells, batteries or hydrogen peroxide.
“We built a car that used an air-powered motor instead of fuel cells and batteries,” Peckham said.
For the national competition, the teams use the same car and chemical reaction they took to the regional competition.
“We start talking about the new design right after nationals,” Peckham said. Teams are required to come up with a new design each year.
“People see what works in one competition and go with that idea,” Whitty said. “They are larger than they used to be, and they are more industrial-looking. People used to try to make little dinky cars.”
The team was organized at the beginning of Spring Semester. Anyone in the chemical engineering department can participate.
Students are able to apply what they have been learning in the classroom by participating and expressing possibilities for the future.
“The people that get involved with it tend to be innovative engineers,” Peckham said. “It’s a way to get people thinking about ways to get cars moving besides fossil fuels.”
For more information about the contest, visit www.aiche.org.
John PeckhamA team of U students won a chemical engineering competition last weekend with a car powered by baking soda and vinegar.