Air pollution: electric racers.Corey Powell, 17, is racing to save Earth's atmosphere “Air” redirects here. For other uses, see Air (disambiguation). Earth's atmosphere is a layer of gases surrounding the planet Earth and retained by the Earth's gravity. It contains roughly (by molar content/volume) 78% nitrogen, 20.95% oxygen, 0.93% argon, 0. . He helps design and build nonpolluting electric cars. Now, he and a team of classmates Classmates can refer to either:
Area, 52,586 sq mi (136,198 sq km). Pop. will go head to head in an electric-car drag race drag race n. A race between two cars to determine which can accelerate faster from a standstill. [From drag, an automobile (slang). with more than 40 other high school teams from the U.S. and Canada. The race, which will be held in Phoenix, Arizona, brings students together so they can learn about different designs and technologies to build the most efficient electric cars, says Powell. Making these cars shows other kids in the community that they can do something to help the environment too, Powell says. "Electric cars are better for our environment because they run clean," he explains. That's because electric cars run on batteries instead of gasoline, a fossil fuel (see graph, opposite page). Unlike gasoline-powered cars, electric cars don't emit toxic exhaust fumes exhaust fumes fumes given off by vehicles; contain some carbon monoxide, the amount varying with the efficiency of combustion in the particular engine. In most engines the use of exhaust fumes for euthanasia is not recommended because it operates partly on the carbon dioxide that pollute our air. or carbon dioxide carbon dioxide, chemical compound, CO2, a colorless, odorless, tasteless gas that is about one and one-half times as dense as air under ordinary conditions of temperature and pressure. gas, which may lead to global warming, Powell says. That's why the state of California has required that 10 percent of all cars built there be electric by the year I 2003. General Motors will introduce the first mass-market electric car--the EV1--this fall. To keep electric cars rewed up, the batteries have to be recharged, says Powell. That's one of the drawbacks of battery-powered rides. "It takes about six hours to recharge our car." Powell explains The car has a built-in battery charger that the teens plug into an electrical wall outlet. Once the car is juiced See Joost. See also juice. up, it can run up to 129kph (80mph) for six hours. So far, the Northampton team has competed in three drag races around the country. "We won all three," says Powell. Toyota and other companies recently awarded the school $15,000 in grants, which will help the Northampton students continue their electric-car research, says Powell. "The money will help us buy some of the materials we need to make our electric cars run faster and smoother," he adds. The teen plans to make his experience pay off by building "green" cars in the future. "After college I'd like to build electric cars for General Motors," Powell says. Or maybe he'll work with one of his teachers, who hopes to start an electric-car company. |
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