Mousetrap Car Research Paper

Words: 823
Pages: 4

There were tons of factors that I had to consider when building my mousetrap car such as friction, weight, traction, and leverage. In the process of building my mousetrap car, there were a few problems that I had to face. In order to solve these problems, I had to adjust my original design to produce a better performing car. T
(1)The two types of friction that effect the movement of the mousetrap car are rolling friction and air resistance. They cause the car to slow down and eventually stop. There were a few problems related to friction that I had to deal with. (2)I had to add balloon rubber to the drive wheels of my mousetrap car to add friction so the wheels would not slip. I also had to make the holes for the axle larger so there would be less friction between the two pieces of wood. (3)At first, I had planned to make the mousetrap car with four wheels. Then, I figured out that it would be better to make it a three-wheeled car so all of the weight would be distributed evenly. (8)This is especially
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Using large or small wheels makes a huge difference in a mousetrap car. Large wheels go farther per turn of the axle than smaller wheels. Therefore, cars with small wheels will travel faster while cars with large wheels will go more distance but travel slower. Also, smaller wheels are lighter and thinner than larger wheels which means the car will travel faster and have less air resistance. (6)The lever arm is another important factor to consider when building a mousetrap car. A longer lever arm means that more string can be pulled off of the axle, making the car go farther. Longer lever arms also have less pulling force than shorter lever arms. This causes the car to go slower but it will travel over a greater distance. In my mousetrap car, I added a pulley system so that I could double the amount of string I could use without doubling the length of my