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.
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What are the two types of friction that affect the performance of a mousetrap car?
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 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).
How does a mousetrap car work which parts work together to cause the wheels to turn ?)?
Power to drive the wheels is provided by a mousetrap to which a wand and string is attached to the snap arm. Winding the string around the axle pulls back the snap arm and releasing the snap arm pulls the string, turning the wheels.
How does Newtons 3rd law apply to a mousetrap car?
Newton’s Third Law Its K’nex axle and string attached to our mousetrap increase leverage and tension, providing a larger net force. All of these factors contribute to the faster acceleration of our car. The relationship between an object’s mass m, its acceleration a, and the applied force F is F = ma.
How does Newton’s first law apply to a mouse trap 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 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 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.
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 is force applied in a mousetrap car?
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.
What is the equation for figuring out your speed with the mousetrap car?
How does friction affect a car?
Friction may slow the car down as it moves along the road, but it also is the force that enables the car to move forward at all. It is the friction force that keeps the tires from sliding on the road. By the same token, it is friction that makes the car come to a stop when the brakes are applied.
What makes a mousetrap car slow down?
Once the car is moving, the friction starts to overcome the original force from the mousetrap which is no longer applied once the lever is pulled all the way down. Therefore, the car slows down and eventually stops through the unbalanced force of friction and air resistance.
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!
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.
Does a mousetrap use elastic energy?
ELASTIC POTENTIAL ENERGY (EPE). The energy stored in a mousetrap spring is found using the formula : EPE = ยฝ๏k๏ฮธ2, where k is spring constant of the mousetrap spring, a measure of how “tough” the spring is and ๏ฑ is the angle (in radians) the torsional mousetrap spring compresses.
How do you increase the mechanical advantage of a mousetrap car?
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
What is friction in a mousetrap car?
Friction. Friction: the force that opposes the relative motion of two surfaces in contact. Friction will slowโ and eventually stopโ your mousetrap car. Friction occurs between the wheels and the floor and between the axle and the chassis.
Are 3 or 4 wheels better for mousetrap cars?
So what is better, three wheels or four wheels? 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.