Introduction
This page is the Northeastern ChemECar team webpage. Northeastern has a rich history in participating in this competition and sends a team to the national competition almost every year.
About ChemECar
ChemECar is a simple competition. The main goal is to build a car which is powered by a chemical reaction and stops at a given distance. The objectives are simple; however there are some restrictions that complicate the simplicity. For instance, the team may not use any mechanical or electrical breaking. The stopping mechanism therefore much be controlled through chemical kinetics.
As the competition matured the rules have changed. Each year we need to meet new rules and design a car the fits into the rules. Click here to read about the rules published by AIChE.
The most important rule to keep in mind is the distance which is set one hour before the start of the competition. It can be between 30 and 100 feet. The car has two minutes to go this distance and stop.
The Car
This year’s car (without giving too much away) uses a hot and cold reaction to power the car. The timing reaction is based on acid degradation of a metal.