MOUSE TRAP CAR
3 objectives
We designed a mousetrap car in effort to understand the conservation of energy.
we hoped for it to go as straight as possible, as far as possible, and to travel with as much accuracy as was possible.
Materials
- Mousetrap
- Balsa wood
- Red, yellow, blue, and orange paint
- Glue
- Zip ties
- Hot glue
- Toy car wheels
- Short thin metal rod
- Wooden rod
- Wood glue
- Duck tape
- String
2) We completely re did the body of the car using thicker and larger pieces of wood.
3) We often had to re glue the wheels because the glue we used often wasn’t strong enough.
4) The axle and string often had to be changed as well.
Data Observation
At the first test, our car went only 17 meters. We did a lot of major changes afterward in order to get it to reach at least 3 meters. Our first blueprint was not accurate or properly sized. But after we re did most of our car we changed that so it would work better.
Analysis/Discussion
Our first car did not go far enough because it was too light and not very well put together.
We drilled out larger wheels for the back so it would have a stronger, more accurate run.
We also changed the body of the car because it was flimsy and broke. Once we had our final model it worked a lot better than before.
Some problems we came across were that our car went different distances every time we tested it.
Sometimes it would go a long distance, sometimes a short one, and other times it wouldn’t go at all.
Overall, I learned a lot about team work and putting in your best effort even if it doesn't turn out the way you wanted.