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Can you answer some questions I have about building a mousetrap car?
I've already searched online how to do this, but I still have some questions. The car will be running on a carpet hallway. The mousetrap is the only thing that can power it, and the goal is to have a long distance
1. Which has a bigger effect on distance, the weight of the car or the friction on the car? I know a heavier car will offer more momentum, but a lighter car will ease friction resistance
2. How much grip should the wheels have? I'm thinking of using CDs as wheels, but I don't know if the smooth edges will be good on carpet (whereas i know something too rough will obstruct movement)
3. Should the wheels be spinning on the axel with the axel immovable? Or should the axel be spinning in the chassis will the wheels immovable? Or does it not matter?
Thank you
2 Answers
- Dan SLv 71 decade agoFavorite Answer
1. It depends use physics formulas to calculate the friction. On average though the weight of the car has more influence since you will probably be racing those cars on a polished floor or a tile floor of some sort at your school. You want a happy medium where the power of the mousetrap is not all spent in overcoming friction and moving the car. Since you will probably be testing on a smooth level surface you don't want a heavy car.
2. If you use CD's as wheels you can sand the outer edges lightly to increase traction. You might stack two or four to give yourself a wider wheel. This will also increase your weight though and you want to keep it light so that the force of the mouse trap is enough to overcome the friction of the floor and move the car forward.
3. If the wheels spin freely on the axis then you will lose some energy that way. It is better to pin the wheels to the axle. Otherwise you will be relying on the friction of the interior of the CD and your axle to make sure that the spinning wheel carries the car forward. If you lose some of that friction then you would just be spinning your axle on your wheels.