How to Design a Mouse Trap Racer
Mouse trap cars are an exciting project to undertake since they teach valuable lessons about energy, motion and physics. Creating a mousetrap racer is a great way to get students and adults alike to work together on a project that is fun, educational and competitive. You can add your own creative elements to create a flashy and unique mousetrap racer.
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Things You'll Need
- Mouse trap
- 4 4-inch diameter Styrofoam wheels
- 4 small eyehole screws
- 2 5-inch small metal dowel rods
- Modeling putty
- Fishing line
- Acrylic craft paint
Instructions
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1
Place an eyehole screw on the front-right side of the mouse trap and also on the front-left side. Place two more eyehole screws on the back-right and back-left sides of the mouse trap.
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2
Slip a small metal rod through the front two eyehole screws and the back two eyehole screws. Lift the mousetrap into the air and push the small metal rod through the exact center of the Styrofoam wheels. Secure the wheels in place by adding a clump of modeling putty to the outside wheel where the metal rod pokes though.
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3
Tie a piece of fishing line to the horizontal bar of the metal portion of the mousetrap. This is the part that snaps down once the trap is set. Extend and set the trap and carefully wrap the fishing line around the back rod. Make sure the fishing line does not overlap itself when you wrap it around the rod.
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4
Test the racer by releasing the trap. The metal bar should pull up, forcing the back rod to spin, which causes the wheels to move.
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5
Remove the fishing line and paint the mouse trap bright red. Add flames on the racer with small curved triangles of orange with even smaller curved triangles of yellow inside the orange. Paint the wheels black so they look like tires. Let the paint dry and retie the fishing line to the wheel. Wind the fishing line around the back rod again.
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Tips & Warnings
The more tightly you can wind the fishing line around the back rod, the further the mousetrap racer will go.
Do not let the armed trap snap back on your finger!
