Lab Report

By: Kabir & Elly

During the building process of our car, distance was our main objective. We were aiming
to go at least 5 meters and we did accomplish that goal. Right from the start I had a plan of what
we could do for our car but, to be honest, it was the opposite of what we shouldve done. I
wanted to build a small car with small wheels and make it very aerodynamic. In retrospect, I
shouldve made the wheels bigger because that wouldve achieved a greater distance.
Our first draft had a cardboard base with Lego wheels and Lego axles. Those materials
didnt change much from the first draft, later on we added a wooden dowel to extend the
mousetrap and skewers and straws in place of Lego axles.

[Victor Krum, the mousetrap car]

In our first test run our cars farthest distance was 92 cm, and it went an average
distance of 88 cm. Its highest velocity was 70.8 cm/s and it had an average velocity of 61.63
cm/s. One big thing that I noticed during this first test run was that there was way too much
friction on the axles and they werent spinning enough and therefore the wheels were spinning
slowly and for a short time. This led us to attach a cut straw to the bottom of the car and to put
the axle through it which really reduced the friction. Other than that, the only thing we did was
add a new cardboard base because the old one was a little too big.
With these modifications, our cars performance was greatly improved. Our second test
runs farthest distance was 478 cm, and it had an average distance of 362 cm. Its highest
velocity was 129.19 cm/s, with an average velocity of 111.28 cm/s. We also measured how far it
strayed from the path and it had an average displacement from the line of 56.67 cm and its
lowest displacement was 5 cm.This time around there wasnt anything particularly wrong with
the car, but we had to push it and make it go farther so we decided to attach a wooden dowel
rod to the mousetrap so it would pull on the axle for a longer period of time. We did that by

binding the rod to the mousetrap with zip ties and then we hot glued the string to the top of the
rod. The second adjustment we made after this test was we replaced our Lego axle with a
skewer because the Lego axle was causing a lot of friction between it and the string.
This adjustment, coupled with all the others, finally got our car to go 5 meters. During the
third test run our farthest distance was 511 cm and it went an average of 403.67 cm. Its highest
velocity was 112.06 cm/s and it had an average velocity of 92.75 cm/s. This time, its average
displacement from the line was 65.67 cm and its smallest displacement was 5 cm. If I were to
change something after this test (we didnt) I wouldve made bigger wheels. Our wheels were
very small and that led to a large velocity but each rotation yielded a lower distance. With larger
wheels it wouldve gone slower and lost velocity. But it would have gone much farther.
We did meet our primary objective of making our car go 5 meters. I think that all our
changes put together enabled our car to go that far. I think that the change that helped the most
was extending the mousetrap because that helped us slow down the cars use of Kinetic
Energy.
We made four design changes during the course of building our car. The first was
moving the axle so it was underneath the cardboard base and not shoved through it. While it
was inside the cardboard there was an enormous amount of friction on the axle and it wasnt
turning. Our second design change was that we extended the mousetrap using a dowel rod so it
would spin the wheels for longer and conserve the Kinetic Energy. Our last change we made
was changing the axle from a Lego axle to a skewer because there was more friction between
the string and the axle than I wouldve liked.
If I were to build a car for accuracy I would want it to have a lot of friction so it wouldnt
go far and would stay straight. I would use medium sized wheels and something light for a base
and I would not extend the mousetrap. If I wanted to build a car for distance I would give it
gargantuan wheels and try to eliminate the need for a base so the mousetrap would be hanging.
Finally, if I wanted to build a car for speed I would make it small, light, and give it small wheels. I
dont think I would extend the mousetrap because that would make it go slower.
All in all, we did pretty well over the course of this project. We did reach our goal of 5
meters and our car functions well. My only regret is not experimenting with wheel size to try to
get it to go farther. My advice for any future students doing this project would be to look at what
other students are doing and implement their ideas and share on your own. Projects like this are
all about collaborating and exchanging ideas and communicating.