In my Che 102 Class we were given the task to build a vehicle that is powered by a chemical reaction. We were also told that there were a couple stipulations. For on the one thing the car or vehicle could not be larger than a normal size shoebox. Next we were told that the car must be able to travel between a distance of fifty to a hundred feet and can not cost more than fifty dollars. Finally we were told that we would be given the exact distance on the day of the race, Tuesday April 24, and that the winning team members would each receive a copy of the Che 232 textbook. So we made up a team that included Ivan Gantan, Scott Heavin, and myself. At first we tried to build a car made of Lego’s and was propelled by the reaction of baking soda and vinegar spinning a turbine that spun the wheels. This idea was unsuccessful because we could not produce enough pressure to spin the turbine. Next we decided to try the sublimation of dry ice and water to propel the car somewhat like a rocket. Our next problem was to find a reactor that would be able to withstand high pressures. Scott had the great idea to use PVC pipe. So we began to build the reactor. We decided to use the body of an old remote control car and strap the reactor on the top. Once we had everything ready we had to find something that would allow us to release the pressure when we wanted. For this Ivan had the great idea to use a one way valve that had a manual switch to regulate the release time of the pressure. Now that we had the final touches on the car it was time to begin calibrating. We decided to calibrate by using the same amount of dry ice and water every time and change the release time. We were ready for race day. That morning Dr. Coronella told us the mark was 60 feet. We were forth to go. The first team to go set the mark really high by coming within 22 inches of the mark but we were still confident. It was our turn, so we got the ready and from our calibrations we knew to release the valve after 15 seconds. Everything was perfect except that the car did not straight and ran into a mailbox and destroyed our car after about thirty feet. One of the wheels fell off and one of the axles broke. We tried to repair it before our next run but we were unsuccessful. Although we came in forth the car competition was very fun and a great opportunity to learn how to work as a team which is very important in engineering.

Submitted By, Francisco Vega