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