Mousetrap Car Research Report

Weatherspoon, Chloe
Parry, Miya
Reyes, Juan

Mousetrap Car Project Report

Purpose: The purpose of this project is to build a mouse trap car and apply it to Newton's laws of motion. Newton's first law states that every material object continues in its state of rest or in uniform motion in a straight line unless it is compelled to change that state by forces acting on it. Newton's second law states that the acceleration of an object is directly proportional to the net force acting on the object (in the direction of the net force) and is inversely proportional to the mass of the object. Newton's third law of motion states that whenever one object exerts a force on a second object, the second object exerts an equal and opposite force on the first. Then these laws will apply to our mousetrap car and they will affect the outcome of the distance traveled in our mousetrap data results.

Procedures: First, our group drilled two shallow holes on each of the short ends of the mousetrap about ½ inch in from each end. Then, we screwed in the eye hooks, one into each hole, making sure the eye hooks were leveled by placing each short end of the mousetrap against a hard cover book. Secondly, we used wire cutters to cut the square snap bar where it attaches to the middle bar to the right of the mouse. That step allowed there to be greater leverage and greater potential energy when launching the vehicle. Then, using pliers, we straightened the bar so it became parallel to the long side of the mousetrap. Then we were able to fit a pencil through a pop tab, both eye hooks, and the second pop tab. Also, we centered the pencil and marked each side of the pencil about 1 to 1½ inches out from each eye hook. Additionally, we wrapped electrical tape carefully around the pencil at the mark. Then positioned the CD hole over the tape in a timely manner and stopped wrapping when the CD fit onto the wrapped tape. Then, using pliers, we straightened the bar from the point it met the top of the mousetrap towards the inside, so it wouldn’t interfere with the motion of either wheel. Soon after, we measured the fishing wire from the tip of the bar to about two inches past the tip of the mouse's nose. Then we slipped the fishing wire through the hole drilled through the pencil. Lastly, we tied the other end of the fishing wire to the loop at the top of the bar and secured it with electrical tape.

Data:

1st Trial
2nd Trial
3rd Trial it traveled 14 feet in 21.34 seconds Velocity .66 m/s it traveled 14 feet in 11.34 seconds Velocity 1.2 m/s it traveled 14 feet in 15.78 seconds Velocity .89 m/s

Analysis: Our data table results are calculated from the nose of the mousetrap car starting at zero feet and zero seconds. Then, once we released the mousetrap and started to watch it and stop timing it, the car passed 14 feet. Then you record you results. Our group did this three times and the first time the we let the string go, it went pretty slow.

Final velocity = initial velocity +(acceleration *time interval) FV= 14 feet FI= 0 feet (A= ?, acceleration T= seconds, time for trial)

Our mousetrap car could have been better if we had reduced the friction of the wheels. The force between the wheels and the ground exceeded the maximum frictional force due to the coefficient of friction between the wheel and ground surfaces. Basically stating that the wheels slipped and the energy stored in the spring was wasted. To prevent excessive friction from happening in our next mousetrap car, we will have to reduce the torque applied to the wheels or simply use higher friction materials.

Conclusion: In our mousetrap car you can see that all of Newton's laws are applied to it. In Newton's first law you can see it acting on the mousetrap car when it is in a standstill position and when it is moving. It moves is a straight line of motion unless other states of forces are acting on it. In Newton's second law of motion you can see this acting out when the car is in motion and accelerating. Throughout the process of building our mousetrap car, our group learned how to develop spatial awareness, budget time, and practice cooperative behavior.