This Fuel Cell X7 Kit has Thames & Kosmos' award-winning model car with a unique reversible fuel cell not found in other fuel cell car models. This kit has been optimized for simplicity and ease of use, and is geared toward a younger scientist and is great for kids!
The full-color, 16-page manual contains easy, step-by-step instructions for assembling and using the car, as well as scientific explanations. The manual focuses on building and designing a fuel cell car.
Informal Education Products, Award of Excellence 2004
Product Warnings & Safety Information:
WARNING: CHOKING HAZARD - SMALL PARTS. This kit contains small pieces and is not suitable for children under 3 years of age.
WARNING: CHEMICALS. This kit contains chemicals that may be harmful if misused. Read cautions on individual containers carefully. Not to be used by children except under adult supervision.
WARNING! This kit should only be used by persons 10 years old or older, and only under the supervision of adults who have familiarized themselves with the safety measures described in the kit. Keep small children and animals away from the experiments, as it contains small parts that could be swallowed.
CAUTION! The fuel cell generates gases that are very easily ignited. Read the instructions and safety information before use and have them ready for reference.
A NOTE FROM LAURI:
This fuel cell car model & kit focused on younger scientist kids. The company who makes this kit, Thames & Kosmos, has a very successful fuel cell car kit ("Fuel Cell Car & Experiment Kit") and this FUEL CELL X7 kit was put together with an easier fuel cell model and manuel to give younger kids (Ages 10+) an opportunity to learn the same science. It is an excellent kit!
Learn science and play with it: an excellent combination to excite younger kids. Although this kit is meant for kids that are 10+ years old, my 9-year-old son put this together completely on his own. He needed some help putting on some stickers (stickers are just not his thing!), but otherwise completed the car in about one hour. He spent many hours playing with the car after he built it, using some experiments from the manual, but far more experiments that he made up. Such as, does it run better on carpet or hardwood floors, does it last longer in forward or in reverse, does taking the rubber off the wheels make a difference, and so on. He happily showed every kid who came over to our house how to recharge the fuel cell and then they would go play with it.
Age-appropriate science is included. My son learned about distilled water, the elements within water, and the formula for water. He has learned some basic fuel cell terms - PEM Fuel Cells (PEM = Proton Exchange Membrane), and MEA (Membrane Electrode Assembly). The manual explains anodes, cathodes, electrons and hydrogen ions, and catalysts. The manual includes information about other types of fuel cells, the history of the fuel cell, Earth's energy resources, why fuel cells are important, and how a real fuel cell car would likely be designed. All of those topics were very understandable and interesting for him and very age appropriate.
Summary of this FUEL CELL X7 CAR kit. This kit involves putting the car together, with the two most complex parts (the motor and the fuel cell) already pre-assembled. You connect a set of batteries to the fuel cell to "charge it", which takes 5-10 minutes. "Charging it" uses electrolysis to divide distilled water into hydrogen and oxygen, with each element going into a separate tank. You disconnect the batteries from the fuel cell, and connect the motor to the fuel cell. The fuel cell uses the hydrogen for energy to drive the geared motor. And off you go! Reversing the connectors from the motor to the fuel cell will cause the car to go in reverse. It is very easy and great fun to change these connections and have the car go forward and then go in reverse! Each charge lasts about 8.5 to 9 minutes of run time.
Differences between Fuel Cell X7 Car and Fuel Cell Car Experiment kits. There are two fuel cell kits by Thames & Kosmos. My son did the X7 kit (Ages 10+) and my 12-year-old daugher did the Experiment kit (Ages 12+) for her science fair project. There are two primary differences between the kits. The first difference is where the X7 kit powers the electolysis process (separating water into hydrogen and oxygen) using a battery, the Experiment kit uses a solar cell as the power, and there is information, projects, and experiments using the solar cell in addition to learning about the fuel cell. The second difference is the manual. Both are outstanding, but where the X7 manual is simplified for younger scientists and much shorter, the Experiment kit has an incredible manual that guides kids through far more complex science experiments with more science explained (96-page manual).
The X7 science kit is not intimidating. If we can do it, so can you. The quality of the X7 manual was outstanding and age appropriate. The manual includes ground rules for safe experimentation, and safety information. There are well laid out troubleshooting instructions as well. This is a fun kit to do with your kid(s), and you will learn right along with them! I did a little more research after we made the kit and found out that the fuel cell design is basically what is being designed for REAL cars, just bigger and with more fuel cells back-to-back to provide more energy. This kit will enhance my appreciation of REAL fuel cell cars when they really are introduced.
Very minor "kit qwirks" to watch for. We found that the seals between the tanks and the piping that delivers the hydrogen and oxygen into the tanks, sometimes came loose. This happened a few times while the tanks were being filled, whereby the tanks would re-fill with water and the process for refilling the tanks with hydrogen and oxygen just took a bit longer. We found that we just needed to gently pull on the seals before we started to make sure they stayed tight.
We really enjoyed the FUEL CELL X7 CAR kit!
