Applications

As proved by physicists many a times, free energy is impossible. The Law of Conservation of Energy states this, that energy can not be created nor destroyed, only transfered. Our alternative energy cars built as a competition prove this very effectively, 2 using rubber bands, 1 using a balloon, all using elasticity. There was Dylan's car, powered by a balloon, he blew up the balloon, let it go, and the quickly escaping air forced the car forward. Unfortunately, it only forced it forward a total distance of about 2 inches. Then there was Pat's car, using rubber bands with hooks on the axle, 2 on each of the rear wheels. His car proved to have several problems though, the axle not being stable and free spinning enough, and the 2 rubber bands actually being 2 strong, causing the tires just to spin and the car go nowhere. In the competition, even with weights added to the car, it only went a total of about 4 inches. Beating Dylan's car, but still not very efficient. Justin's car, was a much different story. His was powered by the same concept as Pat's, as well as with a propeller working identical to a balsa wood airplane's propeller, so it had a dual propulsion system. The axle system was much simpler than Pat's, only using one rubber band on the entire rear axle, and when wound up, it was wound up only 5 times around to prevent wheel spin, therefore a great loss of energy, which is a waste. This helped get the car started, getting it up to a decent speed, and the propeller carried it the rest of the way after the axle-power was completely unwound. The propeller could be wound up much more, because there was no chance of wheel spin like with the axle to waste energy. As well, if you have ever had a balsa wood airplane with a propeller and wheels, it could actually take off from the ground itself, but after that it could not go very far. If you wound up the propeller though, and threw it, giving it an initial velocity, it would go much farther. That's because the propeller, blowing air, does not have much torque, so it takes a lot to get it up to a speed from rest. The rubber band on the axle fixes this problem, because it directly applies force to the ground, solid matter to solid matter, and has much more torque. The combination of these 2 propulsions help the car initially get up to speed, with high torque, as well get up to high, long lasting speed, with high horsepower. This system proves to be very efficient, turning a large amount of the energy provided, winding up the rubber bands, to pure results, distance.

This demonstrates that the true problem with alternative energy is not creating energy as many people think, as we know that's impossible, but transferring it at the greatest possible efficiency. Currently the most efficient motors that we can create and use just as efficiently, are gasoline powered motors, but unfortunately they also use a fuel in which the supply is quickly depleting, and the byproduct is a hazerdous material, dangerous to our environment. So, hopefully sometime in the near future, a new form of energy can be found that can be used not only efficiently, but safely and cost-efficiently as well.