Energy efficient cars

[linaandvanessa]

Hello. We are doing a science project and NEED HELP! For the project, we had to choose a topic about helping the enviroment. We chose to study how hybrid and electric cars will help the enviroment. What is so bad about gasoline powered cars anyway? Are electric cars really that much more efficient? Please write back.

[donnahardy2]

Hi Linaandvannesa,

The most obvious problem with gasoline cars is that they produce more carbon dioxide, which contributes to global warming. The following website includes more background information that should be helpful for you project.

http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~coreyp/gasolineenvimp.html

The answer to your question about the efficiency of electric cars is one that you could answer with an experiment. What is your definition of efficiency?

Since you have a topic, I recommend that you go back to the science buddies website and go through the steps on the science fair project guide and develop your project. Let us know if you need more help.

Donna Hardy

[linaandvanessa]

thank you soooooo much for replying. This website will give us lots of help, I'm sure. Anyways another problem we ran into is that we have to write down a procedure. We are not exactly sure how we would do an experiment on this topic. Our teachers said it is a fine topic so we arent looking to change the topic, we are jus wondering if you have any other ideas for a procedure. Thanks for your help.

[donnahardy2]

Hi Linaandvanessa,

Your teacher is right; this is a very good topic. This project could be done either by reviewing data on the amount of energy used by different type of gasoline powered vehicles compared to electric vehicles. For a science project, you want to narrow your topic down and be specific. For example, you might compare the amount of carbon dioxide produced by mowing a lawn of a specific size with a gas-powered mower, and an electric mower, and perhaps by a herd of goats. Or, maybe you could think of something that would be of more interest to someone your age. You would have to find the information about quantities of carbon dioxide in the scientific literature. Or, perhaps you could do an experiment comparing the carbon dioxide produced by a model electric car compared to a comparable sized gasoline powered model car. However, before you design your experiment, you need to think of a question that you want to answer. That will help you decide what your experiment will be.

Let us know if you have more questions after you've gone through the science buddies guide. The guide will really help you plan a successful project.

Donna Hardy