How to Build a Mousetrap Car for a School Project
A mousetrap car is a vehicle that uses a mousetrap for its motor. The car uses a string to control the power of the trap's spring, propelling the car. Winding the string around the axle stretches the string and produces stored energy. This type of project teaches physics principles and problem-solving skills. In just a few steps, you can create your own mousetrap car for a school project.
Other People Are Reading
Things You'll Need
- Mousetrap
- Pliers
- Four eye hooks
- Plywood
- Compass with pencil
- Jigsaw
- Wood file
- Two metal rods
- Jeweler’s file
- Vise
- Hacksaw
- Epoxy glue
- Washers with inner 4-mm diameter
- Drill and drill bit, 3.7 mm
- String
- Two rubber bands
Instructions
-
-
1
Pull the wire that holds the mousetrap open out of the trap with pliers and take out the bait holder and any remaining staples. Screw the eye hooks into the ends of the mousetrap base, with two hooks going into each of the two short ends. To start assembling the wheels, draw four 75-mm circles on a piece of plywood, using your compass. Trim the wheels out using a jigsaw and make the edges smooth by filing them down with a wood file.
-
2
Assemble the axles by placing the two rods in a vise and cutting them to the same length. They should be 4 mm in diameter and 15 mm longer than the width of the mousetrap. File the edges of the rods smooth. Using a hacksaw, cut halfway through one rod, and widen the slot with the jeweler's file so that that the wire you pulled out of the trap earlier will fit into the slot comfortably. Trim a 7-mm piece of this wire and smooth down the ends with the file. Glue the wire into the slot on the rod so that it hangs over only on one side. Allow the glue to dry overnight.
-
-
3
Place the rod with the wire--or one axle--at the back part of the mousetrap. This is the area where the snapper arm of the trap is located after a person has set the trap. Place the other axle through the appropriate eye hooks and add washers to ends of the axles. Make sure the axles fit the eye hooks so that they have enough space to turn, and make sure the axles also are parallel to each other.
-
4
Drill a hole into the center of each wheel and slide them onto each of the rods. Tie the string to the middle of the mousetrap snapper arm, and make a loop in the other end at the back axle. Put your two rubber bands around each of the back wheels.
-
5
Lift the trap’s snapper arm slightly, and place the looped part of the string over the wire attached to the back axle. Reverse the car so that the string winds around the axle and opens the mousetrap snapper arm. Once you let go of the mousetrap car, it will drive off.
-
1
References
- Photo Credit mousetrap-american coin image by William Berry from Fotolia.com
