All Projects Are Due Friday, January 8, 2016
MouseTrap Racers
All projects are due Friday, January 8, 2016
PROJECT RULES:
1. The device must be powered by a single “Victor” brand mousetrap.
2. The mousetrap cannot be physically altered except for the following:
four holes can be drilled only to mount the mousetrap to the frame and a
mousetrap’s spring can be removed only to adjust the length of its lever
arm.
3. The device cannot have any additional potential or kinetic energy at the
start other than what can be stored in the mousetrap’s spring itself.
(This also means that you cannot push start your vehicle.)
4. The spring from the mousetrap cannot be altered or heat-treated.
5. The spring cannot be wound more than its normal travel distance or
180 degrees.
6. Vehicles must be self-starting. Vehicles may not receive a push in the
forward direction or side direction.
7. The vehicle must steer itself. Measurements of distance will not be
measured. Only the displacement distance counts.
8. Distance will be measured from the front of the tape at the starting line
to the point of the vehicle that was closest to the start line at the time of
release.
ASSESSMENT OF MOUSETRAP CAR PROJECT
The following assessment criteria will be used to evaluate the projects.
I. MOUSETRAP CAR CONSTRUCTION: 20%
10 points: Neat construction and assembly. Excellent attention to detail.
8 points: Good construction and assembly and good attention to detail.
6 points: Car holds together, but looks like a last-minute project.
0 points: Poor construction and assembly. No attention to detail.
II. MOUSETRAP CAR DESIGN: 20%
10 points: Unique theme and original design. Excellent level of creativity.
8 points: Interesting theme. Good level of creativity.
6 points: Basic theme. Basic level of creativity.
0 points: No detectable theme. No apparent creativity.
III. MOUSETRAP CAR PERFORMANCE: 20%
10 points: Travels 5 meters in a straight line. Final displacement is
greater than 10 meters.
8 points: Travels 3-5 m in a straight line. Final displacement is between
5-10 m.
6 points: Travels 2-3 m in a straight line. Final displacement is 5 m.
0 points: Travels less than 2 m in a straight line. Final displacement is less than 5 m.
IV. MOUSETRAP CAR PHYSICS ANALYSIS: 60%
CONCEPTUAL ANALYSIS
1. What are the two types of friction that affect the performance of your
car?
2. Which problems related to friction did you encounter, and how did you
solve them?
3. How many wheels does your car have?
What factors did you take into account to decide the number of wheels?
4. What kind of wheels did you use in each axle?
What is the effect of using large or small wheels?
5. Explain how Newton's first, second and thirdlaws apply to the
performance of a car.
6. Discuss the effect of the length of the lever arm in the pulling force of
your car.
7. How is the balance of a wheel, around its center, related to the car’s
performance?
8. How does the distribution of weight of the car affect the traction of the
wheels?
9. Discuss how the length of the lever arm is related to the power output of
your car.
Measure the length of your lever arm.
10. You learned in class that momentum is equal to the product of mass
times velocity. This means that the more massive your car is, the more
speed it will attain. How does this affect energy consumption and the
distance traveled?
11. Discuss the major problems encountered in the performance of your
car and what did you do to solve them.
V. QUANTUM LEAP INFORMATION
A quantum bump in your final grade will occur if:
- Your car wins the Mousetrap Car Distance Competition