A car is propelled forward because the drive wheels push on the road and the floor pushes back against the wheels of the car causing the car to move.
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What are the physics behind a mousetrap car?
The mousetrap storespotential energyin the form of the spring. That potential energy is converted into kinetic energy in the form of the arm rotating forward. The arm pulls on the wound-up string, which turns the drive wheel dowel, which is connected to the wheels, which makes the car drive forward.
What forces act on your mousetrap car as it moves?
A moving mousetrap car is affected by two type of friction: airfriction and bearing friction. Airfriction is a large factor only with cars that are moving fast and is nearly negligible for slow-moving distance cars; therefore, in this lab you will only take bearing friction into consideration.
How does Newtons 2nd law apply to a mousetrap car?
What makes a mousetrap car go farther?
Using large rear wheels allow one rotation of the axle to take the car a much further distance. In other words, a given length of the string from the mousetrap moves the car a greater distance. The last note is to place your mousetrap as close to the front of the car as possible.
What makes a mousetrap car go faster?
If you haven’t realized it yet, increasing the length of the lever arm attached to the mousetrap, increases the total mechanical advantage of the car. Therefore, to increase your car’s speed, you can reduce the length of the lever arm attached to the mousetrap.
How do you increase the mechanical advantage of a mousetrap car?
How does a mousetrap car function?
A mousetrap car works on the principle of a lever. One end of the lever is connected to a spring. When a force is used to pull up the other end of the lever up, the spring tightens, storing energy. When the lever is released, the stored energy in the spring is transferred back to the lever, and the end snaps back.
How do mousetrap cars reduce friction?
Try to have a minimum gap of 1/8 inch between the frame and any spacers (or wheels) in order to decrease any rubbing friction. Use thrust washers and graphite powder between spacers (or wheels) and the frame to help reduce the rubbing friction.
How does Newtons 1st law apply to a mousetrap car?
The mouse trap car relates to Newtons first law because the car does not move until the force of the mousetrap moves it and then it doesn’t stop until it hits something or until gravity finally stops it. – Newtons second law: Acceleration is produced when a force acts on a mass.
What kind of string is best for a mousetrap car?
The string has to be strong enough to handle the pulling force but flexible and thin enough to wind tightly around the drive axle. We recommend using a Kevlar based fishing line because its high strength. You should stay away from nylon fishing line and dental floss, these do not work well with mousetrap racers.
How does weight affect a mousetrap car?
Mousetrap Vehicles: Weight Distribution Weight distribution can have a large effect on a vehicles performance, if the weight of a vehicle is concentrated to far away from the drive wheels there may be a greater tendency for slippage at the start line.
What effect would a larger lever have on the mousetrap car?
Changing the length of the mouse trap’s lever arm controls the pulling force and the amount of string that can be wound around the drive axle. Making the length of the mouse trap’s lever arm longer will decrease the pulling force but increase the amount of string that can be pulling from the drive axle.
What is Newton’s third law?
Newton’s third law simply states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. So, if object A acts a force upon object B, then object B will exert an opposite yet equal force upon object A.
What are the best materials to make a mousetrap car?
A mousetrap car can be made from cardboard or balsa wood with CD’s for wheels and axles of wood or brass tubing. Power to drive the wheels is provided by a mousetrap to which a wand and string is attached to the snap arm.
What is the most important thing to keep in mind when designing a mousetrap car?
The only way to truly understand how to build a mousetrap car is to ask yourself the question “what if I change this?” and then make the change in order to see what will happen. A good engineer knows 99 ways something will not work and one way that it will work great, find that one way!
Is friction important in a mousetrap car?
Without friction your mousetrap vehicle would travel forever, learn how to conquer friction. You cannot build a winning mousetrap racer until you know the basics. Perhaps the second most important concept to understand when building a mousetrap powered car is the concept of friction.
Are big wheels better for a mousetrap car?
Larger drive wheels will have a greater travel distance per each turn compared to smaller drive wheel. It would make sense to use a super huge drive wheel so for each turn of this massive drive wheel the mousetrap vehicle will travel an incredible distance.
How does torque affect a mousetrap car?
As torque relates to a mousetrap-powered vehicle, a torque is applied to the wheels by pulling the wound string from the drive axle. The mouse trap’s lever arm applies a force to the drive axle that causes the drive axle to pivot or rotate thereby causing the vehicle to move.
What is the fastest mousetrap car design?
The Speed-Trap Racer is the fastest mousetrap powered racer anywhere and was designed after Doc Fizzix’s own record-setting mousetrap racer that traveled 5 meters in 1.2 seconds.
What kind of lever is a mousetrap car?
A mousetrap would be considered a third-class lever. Like everything, you can not get something for anything and energy is no different when it comes to a machine. You can only get the same amount of energy out of a machine as you put into the machine.
How much energy is stored in a mousetrap?
The MAXIMUM energy that you could get out of this “standard” mousetrap is approximately 0.815 [J].
How do you calculate how far your mousetrap car will go?
combined formulas: the pulling distance (distance) is equal to the length of string (String Length) pulled from the drive axle times the diameter of the drive wheels (d drive wheel) divided by the diameter of the drive axle (d drive axle).
What simple machines are in a mousetrap car?
The six simple machines are: the inclined plane, the wedge, the screw, the lever, the wheel and axle, and the pulley. Understanding the principles of these simple machines will help you design your mousetrap vehicle.
How many wheels should a mousetrap car have?
The answer depends on the contest, if we are to build a super fast accelerating speed-trap racer then over coming rotational inertia is one of the main objectives therefor three wheels will always do better than four wheels when it comes to performance.