Title-
Matthew and Neal
Period 2
Physics
Mr. Yav
"The Cookie Eater"
Table of Contents-
Introduction
Design
Construction Procedure
Operation of Mousetrap Car
Results
Conclusion and Improvements
Appendix
Introduction-
This project involves the creation of a car powered by a mousetrap moving a string to turn the wheels of the car. This will show potential energy turning into kinetic energy in a creative way. The requirements of the project are in the materials list along with a few added items to improve our car. Our goals are to protect our egg, break the other eggs, and achieve maximum acceleration possible.The goal is to create a car that car travel only 1.5 meters down a ramp. The objective is for us to break or knock the other teams' eggs out of their mousetrap cars. If we fail to do this then the car that accelerates faster down the ramp takes the round win. We are limited to not including any objects that are sharp or dangerous, like knives for example. This competition is meant to resemble jousting from the Middle Ages.
Design-
1 dixy cup
1 balsa wood 8in x 4in x 2cm
2 wooden rods
1 iron rod
1 mouse trap
2 balloons
4 CDs
1 meter fishing string
4 fish eye bolts
1 hot glue gun
1 hot glue stick
1 zip tie
Construction Procedure-
We started with a piece of Balsa wood and cut it down to 9 inches. We drilled 4 fish eye hooks into the covers and secured them with hot glue. The we put wooden axels through the wholes and attached CD disks as wheels on each end. We wrapped balloons on the ends of each wheel for added friction and traction. Then on the back wheel we put a zip tie to the back axel for the string. We put the Mose trap at the front and glued it down on the wood. We extended the arm of the trap with a piece of cylindrical wood and attached the fishing line string. We glued a dixy cup to the end to hold the egg.
Operation of the Mousetrap Car-
The car operates by the steel rod connected to the rear axle and fishing line to move the wheels powered by the mousetrap after it gets tripped.
Results-
Our car's final time to make the distance was 2.459 seconds. We made it into the second to last bracket where we lost to the number one seated team and then lost to the best of the loser's bracket. Our egg did break in the final round because it fell out of our basket.
Conclusion and Improvements-
To improve our car we would add on more defensive mods and make it heavier so that it would be able to take more of a hit from other cars.w
Appendix-
