How do fuel cells work, and what is being done to adapt them to power vehicles?

What will be an ideal response?


"An alternative to burning hydrogen in conventional internal combustion engines uses hydrogen in fuel cells to produce electricity and power the vehicle with an electric motor. Fuel cells are devices in which hydrogen or some other fuel is chemically recombined with oxygen in a manner that produces an electrical potential rather than initiating burning. Emissions consist solely of water and heat! Because fuel cells create much less waste heat than conventional engines do, energy is transferred more efficiently from the hydrogen to the vehicle—at a rate of 45% to 60%, versus the 20% for current combustion-engine vehicles. To power a vehicle, hundreds of fuel cells are combined into a fuel cell stack. The vehicle must also include a hydrogen storage device, a cooling system (fuel cells also generate heat), and a device to force oxygen into the fuel cells."

Environmental & Atmospheric Sciences

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Determining a discrete threshold level of exposure is most difficult for

A) all carcinogens. B) most acids. C) all salts. D) almost all bases.

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Most of the stars in colliding galaxies

A. exchange amounts of material in proportion to their masses. B. undergo accelerated collapse. C. end up as binaries. D. coalesce into larger stars. E. do not make contact with one another.

Environmental & Atmospheric Sciences

A _____________ is where an organism lives.

Fill in the blank(s) with the appropriate word(s).

Environmental & Atmospheric Sciences