Lauren's Fabulous Mousetrap Car

• Competition: Mr. McMahon provided our class with a heart-stopping challenge. It was to create our own mousetrap car. The car was going to be entered into competition with the cars of other students. Therefore, the speed and appearance of the car were of vital importance. The car had to travel a distance of 5 meters, the faster the better. If your car was one of the top 3 fastest, and aesthetically pleasing, you would receive extra credit. Since my car was the overall fastest, and quite stylish, I received the extra credit points. I have come to greatly appreciate these points since my test grades aren't always as high as they could be.
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• Physics Concepts: Physics plays a big part in mousetrap cars. Hence, the reason for the assignment. For example, the mass of your car determines how fast your car will go. The less mass your car has the quicker it will accelerate. One can achieve this by using a light-weight material for the body of the car. I used balsa wood to accomplish this goal. Potential energy and kinetic energy also come into play with mousetrap cars. When the arm is pulled back and the line is wound on the axle, it has potential energy. Once the arm is released it has kinetic energy. Friction is another physics concept that has to be worked with. In order for the car to move it needs to gain traction. Which means that it has to work with friction instead of against it. To gain the proper traction you can use rubber bands on the wheels, but remember that too much friction will slow the car down proportionately. Mechanical advantage also plays a role in the working of mousetrap cars. It is the ratio of the output force of a machine to the input force. This can be achieved by making the arm of the mousetrap longer, so less force is applied to the car. Conservation of energy must also be acknowledged in the mousetrap car process. It was met because only conservative forces were acting, therefore the total mechanical energy of the mousetrap car neither increased nor decreased. It stayed constant and energy was conserved. All of these physics concepts should be understood in order for a perfect mousetrap car to result.
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• Problems: Many problems did arise in the building proceess. The strength of the mousetrap with the extended arm is what caused all of the problems. Initially, straw axles were used for the front axles. However, they had to be changed to brass tubing because the straws kept breaking from the force of the arm impact. Originally, thread was used as the "propellant". However,due to the strength of the mousetrap, the thread stretched and kept getting back wound on the axle, which caused the car to stop. So the thread was replaced with braided fishing line that had no stretch. Another problem was how the mousetrap was attached to the car. It was hot glued to the car but the trap possessed so much power that it was detaching itself from the car when the arm impacted.. Therefore, it had to be hot glued and stapled to ensure that it would remain secure. Once the the troubleshooting phase was over the car moved as quickly as intended.

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