Mouse Trap Car Report
Mousetrap Car Report
What sources of friction (both good and bad) does one need to consider in designing an effective mouse trap car? Try to come up with at least four [4]
Explain how Newton’s first, second and third laws apply to the performance of your car [3]
First Law: An object in motion will stay in motion, and object at rest will stay at rest unless acted upon by an outside force. In other words, the mouse trap car will not move unless an outside force will cause it to move (the string attached to the axle). It will keep moving unless an outside force acts upon it. Second Law: To obtain a greater acceleration, you need to trim down the mass of the car as well as apply more force to the car, which usually means wind up the rope nice and tight. Third Law: Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. When the mouse trap wheels …show more content…
[6] When designing the wheels for my mousetrap car I chose CD’s but when I went to use the CD’s on a surface, they would slide at an increasing speed (Surface friction) so I fixed that problem by putting balloon around all the wheels.
Discuss the effect wheel size has on the performance of your car. [2]
Since this race was about the distance the car could travel, larger wheels are better because if the wheels have a larger diameter than the axle, the car will go further. Also larger wheels have greater rotational inertia than smaller wheels. (Newton’s 1st Law)
Discuss the effect that the length of the lever arm has on the performance of your car. [2]
Extending the length of the lever arm will cause the mousetrap to slow down the rate of energy release so the energy can last longer. If the lever arm is longer (not exceeding 50cm) the further distance the mousetrap car would travel and therefore it would benefit the overall performance of my car during the competition
What sources of friction (both good and bad) does one need to consider in designing an effective mouse trap car? Try to come up with at least four [4]
Explain how Newton’s first, second and third laws apply to the performance of your car [3]
First Law: An object in motion will stay in motion, and object at rest will stay at rest unless acted upon by an outside force. In other words, the mouse trap car will not move unless an outside force will cause it to move (the string attached to the axle). It will keep moving unless an outside force acts upon it. Second Law: To obtain a greater acceleration, you need to trim down the mass of the car as well as apply more force to the car, which usually means wind up the rope nice and tight. Third Law: Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. When the mouse trap wheels …show more content…
[6] When designing the wheels for my mousetrap car I chose CD’s but when I went to use the CD’s on a surface, they would slide at an increasing speed (Surface friction) so I fixed that problem by putting balloon around all the wheels.
Discuss the effect wheel size has on the performance of your car. [2]
Since this race was about the distance the car could travel, larger wheels are better because if the wheels have a larger diameter than the axle, the car will go further. Also larger wheels have greater rotational inertia than smaller wheels. (Newton’s 1st Law)
Discuss the effect that the length of the lever arm has on the performance of your car. [2]
Extending the length of the lever arm will cause the mousetrap to slow down the rate of energy release so the energy can last longer. If the lever arm is longer (not exceeding 50cm) the further distance the mousetrap car would travel and therefore it would benefit the overall performance of my car during the competition