How to Make a Mouse Trap Race Car
The sharp snap of a wooden mousetrap at work may mean doom for a household pest, but it can also mean fun for toy hobbyists and science students. That snap results from the release of kinetic energy stored in the trap's spring; while it is stored, it is known as potential energy. Its release--powerful enough to kill a mouse or flip an empty trap--is strong enough to move a toy vehicle as well. All you have to do is construct a basic car that will conduct the trap's kinetic energy to a set of wheels. It's easier than it sounds.
Things You'll Need
- Wooden mousetrap
- Lightweight plywood, about 8 inches long and barely wider than your mousetrap
- Wood glue
- Clamps
- Wooden dowels or cooking skewers about 1/8-inch diameter
- Heavy duty scissors or wire cutters
- Sandpaper
- Eye hooks, barely larger than diameter of your skewers
- Four used CDs or wooden disks
- Four large rubber bands, large enough to fit snugly around disks
- Four small rubber bands or rubber washers, small enough to fit snugly around dowels
- Piece of coat hanger or other wire about 4 mm diameter and 4 to 6 inches long
- Duct tape
- String
Instructions
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1
Attach the mousetrap to the plywood using wood glue; hold it in place with the clamps until the glue is dry. The mousetrap should be approximately 2 inches from one end of the wood, not centered, with the "bait" section (the front) facing the shorter end of the chassis.
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2
Cut the dowels or skewers to length using wire cutters or utility scissors. The dowels will form the axles of your car, so they should be long enough to span the width of your chassis plus the wheels, with an inch or so of extra length.
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3
Sand the cut ends of your dowels or skewers and the sides of your plywood smooth.
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4
Screw the eye hooks into the chassis. One pair should be on each end of the plywood; take care to space them evenly, or the car will not drive straight.
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5
Wrap the larger rubber bands around the CDs. This forms the car's wheels. They should fit tightly, because their purpose is to provide traction for the wheels. You may use wooden disks instead, but CDs are a good material for your first car because they are freely available and pre-cut.
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6
Slide one axle through each pair of eye hooks. Place the CDs on the axles, one on each side, and secure them by placing the small rubber bands around the axles, outside the disks.
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7
Attach the wire to the spring arm of the mousetrap with duct tape. Attach the string to the other end of the wire, again using duct tape.
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8
Wind the string around the back axle. As you wind the string, turn the axle away from the body of the car so that it pulls the wire against the trap's spring.
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Tips & Warnings
When the string is tightly wound so that the spring is engaged, hold it carefully and set the car down on a flat, straight surface and release it.
Experiment with different designs and materials for different effects. Three-wheel models, with a single front wheel, may go faster but be less stable, for instance; longer wires or smaller wheels will also affect the car's speed and accuracy.
Do not set the trap, as the bait trigger can easily release by accident; in any case, keep fingers free of the spring at all times.
Use a standard-size mousetrap, not a rat trap. It is larger and more dangerous.
While kits are widely available for mousetrap cars, many contests and science classes prohibit their use. Assembling such a kit may be helpful in understanding the basic principles, but do not use it for a competition unless you confirm that it is permitted.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit mousetrap image by Brett Mulcahy from Fotolia.com
