Name:

RachelandConnor

MousetrapCarsLaboratoryReport

Title:BuildingaReallyBigMousetrapCar(thatisntactuallyamousetrapcar)

Objective:
Inthebeginningourgoalwastomakethelargestcarpossible.Wewantedittogoat
least5mandweweren'tveryconcernedaboutspeedoraccuracy.

Materials:
Thecarwasbuiltusingabedframe,bikewheels,twine,rocks,pvcpipes,apulley
andabunchofscrews,hotglue,epoxy,andducttape.

Pictureofyourcar:

Thisisthecar.Itsframeiswoodanditswheelsarebikewheels.TheaxlesarePVCpipe
slidedintoslightlylargerPVCpipe.Thetowerinthecenterisdesignedtoliftupaheavyweight
thatcanbeseenonthetableinthefarleftoftheframe(currentlytheweightisacementblock
andaplasticcontainerfullofrocks)Twineisattachedtotheweight,wrappedaroundapulley
onthetowerandthenboltedtothebackaxle.TheIdeawasthattheweightoftheCementblock
andRockswouldpullonthetwine,whichwouldpullontheaxle,causingittoturn.


Data/Observations:
(Thiswilllikelybethelongestsectionofyourreport.Inthissection,you
shouldincludehowyoutestedyourcarandwhatyounoticedandwhatdatayoucollected.For
eachobservationlisted,youshoulddescribewhothisledyoutoadesignchangeandwhy.For
eachdesignchange,youshould).

Test

Observations/Data

PreTest1:Strength

Thecarsstrengthwastestedbyrunningthepulleysystemwith
twocontainersfullofrocks.Inthefirsttest,thepulleythatwas
attachedwithducttapefelloff.Itwasthenreplacedusingscrews
andanextrapieceofwood.

PreTest2:Strength

Whenthepulleywasfixedandthetestwasrepeated,theupright
boardsnapped.Itwasreplacedwithastrongeranddenserpiece
ofwood.

PreTest3:Strength

Theweightthatbroketheuprightboardthenbrokethemiddle
boarditwasputon.Thenewboardwasmuchwideranddenser.

Test1:Outside

Becausethecarwasonaslightinclineandasmoothsurface,it
wasabletogo18metersat0.6m/s.

Test2:Inside,3m
Velocity

Thefloorwasslightlyunevenandresultedinthecarstayingstill
untilpushed.Whengivenasmallpush,ithadanaveragevelocity
of0.3m/s.

Test3:Inside,3m
Velocity

Theconditionsfromtest2werereplicated,andthecarwent0.375
m/s.

Test4:Inside,3m
Velocity

Inthistest,thecarhadtheaveragevelocityof0.43.

Test5:Inside,Distance
andAccuracy

Thecar,whenpushed,covered5.5meters.Thedisplacement
fromitscoursewas0.2meters.

Test6:Inside,Distance
andAccuracy

Thecartraveled3meterswithacoursedisplacementof0meters.

Test7:Inside,Distance
andAccuracy

Thedistancethecarwentwas8metersandithada
displacementof0.4meters.

AnalysisandDiscussion:
Ouroriginaldesigninvolvedusingabungeecordtostoreenough
energytomoveourcar,butweabandonedtheideainfavorofanothersourceofpowerthat
couldputoutamoreconsistentforce.Wedecidedtouseaweightattachedtoapulleysystem
tomovethecar.Theweightheldanimpressiveamountofpotentialenergyat6174kilojoules.

Unfortunately,becausethetwinehadtogothroughthepulleysystem,alotoftheforceexerted
onthecarbytheweightendedupweighingthecardown,insteadofpushingitforward.The
weightwasnegatedbythenormalforceofthecar,butbythetimetheforcereachedtheaxle,it
wasntalotofforce.Forawhile,oursolutionwassimplytoaddmoreweight,butthisproved
extremelyinefficientbecauseunderthenewamountofweighttheframewouldsagandsnap.
Thecarisstillbeingworkedon,andthecurrentplanistodecreasetheaxletowheel
circumferenceratio,tradingoutmaximumdistanceforthetorqueneededtomakethecarmove.

Objectivemetornot,andwhy:
Theobjectiveiscurrentlynotmet,althoughthecarisstill
beingworkedon.Anearlydesignofthecardidwork,andwentanimpressive18meters,butwe
wereunabletorecreateourresultsonalessflatandinclinedsurface.Ourgoalchangedto
makethecarworkinlessdesirableconditions,andmodificationsarestillunderway.

Explanationofthephysicsbehindyourdesignchanges:O
uroriginalpowersourcewas
goingtobeabungiecord.WeabandoneditbecausetheElasticpotentialenergyofevena60
cmbungeecordwasntnearlyasmuchasthepotentialenergyofthegravitationalpotential
energyofaheavyweightsuspended155cmabovetheground.Wearecurrentlydeciding
whethertogobackonthedecisionbecausesomuchofthepotentialenergyisnegatedbythe
normalforceofthecar.Whenourcardidntworkonaslightlyslopedsurface,wedecidedto
increasethetorquebyincreasingtheweight.Becauseofthat,asourcarsweightwas
increasedtogivemoretorque,wealsoaddedmorereinforcementstothecentertower,to
providemorenormalforcetocountertheincreasedweightandkeeptheframeofthecarfrom
breaking.Whilethisdidincreasethepotentialenergy,nearlyallofthenewenergyhadtobe
counteredbythenormalforceofthecar,makingthisprocessofincreasingtorqueinefficient.

Futurepredictionsforadifferentobjective:O
urcurrentgoalistoincreasethetorque.
Currently,themillionsofjoulesthatarestoredintheweightarebeingspentovercomingthe
normalforceofthepulleys.Wepredictthatifweusebungeecordinsteadofthepulleysystem,
thereplacementofgravitationalpotentialenergyforelasticpotentialenergywillallowmore
joulestobespentontheturningoftheaxle.Thiswillgiveourcarenoughtorquetoovercome
theunevensurface.