HydrogenFuelCell

Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe, I believe. Unfortunately, hydrogen does not like to be alone. When ever it is loose, it wants to latch onto other elements to form molecules like water (h2o) and the hydrocarbons that make up a lot of our fossil fuels. The fuel cell in the kit is something of a black box because it does the mysterious action of breaking up the water molecule into two atoms of hydrogen and one of oxygen. When you reverse the connectors, it works in the opposite direction, reassembling the molecule, and in the process, electricity is generated. As with all forms of energy, there ain't no free lunch. Newton's third law I think says basically that you lose energy every time you convert from one form to another. In the fuel cell, it may be lost as heat, some of it is lost to the motor, which is doing work as it turns the wheels.

AlternativeEnergy

FuelCellCarInventory

Links:

Video on how a fuel cell works - http://videos.howstuffworks.com/howstuffworks/4847-how-fuel-cells-work-video.htm

Hydrogen Fuel Cell - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuel_cell

How Fuel Cells Work - http://auto.howstuffworks.com/fuel-cell.htm/printable

Fuel Cell Animation - http://www.humboldt.edu/~serc/animation.html

Fuel Cell Animation - http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/fuelcell8.swf