Can you take the energy from a mousetrap and use it to power a car? Now try it out with Mousetrap Car!
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S CIENCE PROJECT
SCIENCE PROJECT
How to Build a Mousetrap Car
Can you take the energy from a mousetrap and use it to power a car? Now try it out with Mousetrap Car!
mousetrap car makes for a great science
A project for physics classroom experiment, or a fun weekend activity. Mousetrap cars are frequently used to help students learn about mechanical advantage, distance, and gravity, with many teachers turning the experiment into a long distance challenge. The stored potential energy in the spring of the mousetrap’ s snapper arm transforms into the kinetic energy that propels a car that you will make. But to create your own rodent roadster, you’ ll need the right materials, an understanding of a few physical principles, and a little effort.
MATERIALS REQUIRED
• Wooden snap-back mousetrap
• Duct tape
• 4 eye hooks
• Wooden dowel that fits inside the eye hooks
• Heavy cardboard
• Large and small rubber bands
• Foam board( usually found at a craft store)
• String
• Ruler or straight edge
• Utility knife • Pliers
PROCEDURE
1. Have an adult help you use a utility knife to cut four wheels out of a piece of foam board or corrugated cardboard. Make the back wheels about double the diameter of the front wheels.( Use a compass to draw the circles, or trace around a bowl or cup.)
2. Give your wheels some traction by stretching large rubber bands around each wheel. For the small wheels you could also try using a section of a balloon.
3. If there are metal or plastic teeth on the mousetrap, remove them carefully using a pair of pliers. Also remove the rod that is used to set the trap.
4. Start building the base, or chassis, of the car by cutting a piece of strong cardboard so that it is slightly bigger( about 1 / 2”) than the mousetrap on every side. Use duct tape to attach the mousetrap to the base. Don’ t cover up the spring in the middle of the trap or the“ snapper arm.”
5. Screw the eye hooks onto the bottom of the cardboard chassis, one in each corner. Use a ruler to make sure that the eye hooks are aligned with each other.
WINSPIRE: Empowering youth | February, 2017