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MESA Day 2012
Mousetrap Car - Distance
6th-8th Grade
  Students will build a vehicle solely powered
by a standard mousetrap to travel the longest
distance on a specified track
  Materials:
  1 standard mousetrap
  All other materials are legal
  NO KITS!
  READ RULES AT LEAST TWICE!!
  Mousetrap is ONLY source of energy
  Don’t tamper with mousetrap:
 No paint
 No decoration
 Alteration allowed ONLY for attaching
mousetrap to chassis
 Spring may not be altered
  READ RULES AT LEAST TWICE!!
  Energy from spring is transferred to
car via the lever arm
  Lever arm provides torque required
to turn axles
Length of lever arm affects power
output
Shorter arm = faster output
Longer arm = slower output
  # of wheels : 3 or 4
  Wheel radius
  The greater the radius, the greater the torque required to rotate
the axle
  Wheel grip (traction)
  Power output must match wheel grip to avoid spinning
  Avoid wasting energy
  Ratio of wheel-to-axle
  Larger ratio good for distance
  Friction
  Reduce friction between wheels and surface
  Also between axle and chassis
  Alignment
  The body of the car
  Balsawood, plastic, other lightweight materials
  Mass
  The heavier the car, the greater the friction force with the
surface
  More force required to actually move the car
  Long chassis vs. Short chassis
  Narrow vs Wide
  Aerodynamic (reduce drag)
Fast vs Slow
  Fast:
  Build a car that will
accelerate quickly
and “coast” as far as
possible
  shorter lever arm
  smaller wheel radius
  quick power output
  Slow:
  Build a car that will
accelerate slowly
over the entire
distance that it
travels. Less
“coasting”.
  longer lever arm
  larger wheel radius
  slow power output
  Research, research, research!
  Experimentation is the key
  Set a working timeline
  READ THE RULES….twice….again!!
  HAVE FUN!!!: It’s not the end of the
world.