Recently in Physical Science, we were assigned to construct a mousetrap-powered car. After a great deal of research, I had a basic idea of what I wanted to make. The end result is what you see. This mouse trap car is more for speed than for distance, although it's performance seems to be between the two. It goes a decent distance, and it travels at a decent speed. While being lightweight, This car is also quite sturdy. It's fairly easy to make, so give it a shot if you're interested!
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Signing UpStep 1: Materials
There are a few specific items that you'll need for this project, but you can probably use similar items if you aren't able to find balsa wood, copper tubing, etc. in the sizes that I used. So, here's what you'll need for the project:
* 1 Victor mousetrap
* 1 pool noodle (try to get one with an inner hole that has a small diameter)
* 1 long piece of balsa wood (You will need two 8" lengths of this balsa wood. I cut mine from one piece of balsa wood that was 1/4" thick and 1" wide)
* slender copper tubing (the diameter of mine was 5/32", but you can use a close size)
* 4 small screw nuts (these must fit over your copper tubing, ideally as close a fit as possible)
* 1 wing nut (like the others, this nut must also fit over your copper tubing)
* JB-Weld
* wood glue
* electrical tape
* string, yarn, twine, etc. (just make sure you can tie it and that it can wind easily)
* (optional) corner braces or similar item (as many as needed--I used two)
Tools:
* a pair of pliers
* hacksaw or knife (to cut pool noodle with)
* (optional) miter box (for clean, square cuts when you cut the pool noodle)
* pipe cutters or something else to cut copper tubing
* 1 Victor mousetrap
* 1 pool noodle (try to get one with an inner hole that has a small diameter)
* 1 long piece of balsa wood (You will need two 8" lengths of this balsa wood. I cut mine from one piece of balsa wood that was 1/4" thick and 1" wide)
* slender copper tubing (the diameter of mine was 5/32", but you can use a close size)
* 4 small screw nuts (these must fit over your copper tubing, ideally as close a fit as possible)
* 1 wing nut (like the others, this nut must also fit over your copper tubing)
* JB-Weld
* wood glue
* electrical tape
* string, yarn, twine, etc. (just make sure you can tie it and that it can wind easily)
* (optional) corner braces or similar item (as many as needed--I used two)
Tools:
* a pair of pliers
* hacksaw or knife (to cut pool noodle with)
* (optional) miter box (for clean, square cuts when you cut the pool noodle)
* pipe cutters or something else to cut copper tubing
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Paper might work if you make sure that it's glued to the axle well. Really, the point of using electrical tape is to build up the diameter of the axle so that the wheels fit snugly. Electrical tape is convenient because is will probably never come off your axle unless you peel at the end of it. Using paper would bulk up the diameter of the axle evenly, but it might be harder if you work with glue instead of using electrical tape.
So, unless using electrical tape is too expensive, that's what I would recommend. I don't remember using too much electrical tape when I did this project--certainly not an entire roll. It might look like more than it really is, since the diameter of the axle is quite small compared to the diameter of the roll that the tape comes on.
I have no idea when this happened! Apparently, I deleted all of the text that I wrote for steps 1, 3, and 5. Now, I'm not sure if I'll be able to rewrite these or if I'll be able to get back to you quickly, because I'm really, very busy this weekend. But, I'll try--thanks for pointing it out!
The only problem was our class was very immature and took instead to leaving the mousetraps (our last step of installing) in people's chairs or on desks so we'd snap ourselves with them.
This car was built to be pretty light. The body's made out of balsa wood, and the wheels are made out of foam pool noodle. I haven't held a skateboard wheel all on its own, but I imagine that it's pretty heavy, or at least considerably heavier than foam noodle. The mousetrap might not have had enough power to move the heavier skateboard wheels.
Sorry I couldn't get back sooner!
"But, I could give you an estimate of how far it traveled. The goal of the school project was that the mousetrap cars travel at least ten feet. I know that my car went ten feet easily, and consistently. However, it didn't go much farther. I would estimate that the maximum distance it went would be around 15-20 feet."
So, obviously, the mousetrap car didn't really travel that far. I don't think that it necessarily slowed down a lot either, so I'm pretty sure that it didn't get going that fast. I had meant for it to accelerate fairly quickly (as opposed to making it go a great distance), and I think that it went decently fast. It is a bit faster than all of those "distance" mousetrap cars, though.
But, I could give you an estimate of how far it traveled. The goal of the school project was that the mousetrap cars travel at least ten feet. I know that my car went ten feet easily, and consistently. However, it didn't go much farther. I would estimate that the maximum distance it went would be around 15-20 feet.
That distance really isn't all that impressive compared to many mousetrap cars you can find on the internet, but it got the job done, which was to go only 10 feet.