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MESA Mouse Trap Powered Cars

MESA Mouse Trap Powered Cars. Basic Competition Rules. Greatest distance travelled without leaving 6-foot wide track Zero alteration of mousetrap do not take the spring apart do not drill holes in or paint the trap except screw attachment holes

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MESA Mouse Trap Powered Cars

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  1. MESAMouse Trap Powered Cars

  2. Basic Competition Rules • Greatest distance travelled without leaving 6-foot wide track • Zero alteration of mousetrap • do not take the spring apart • do not drill holes in or paint the trap • except screw attachment holes • trap lock must be working and sprung with a pencil or similar object

  3. Basic Car Design

  4. Advanced Car Design

  5. Physics of Mousetrap Car • Friction forces • Drag • Acceleration • Torque • Momentum

  6. Friction • Rubbing forces on moving parts • Effect: slows car and prevents maximum distance • Caused by: • excess wheel to road contact • poor wheel alignment • various parts rubbing when in motion

  7. Wheel to road contact • Skinny wheels incur less friction than wide wheels • “total surface area” of all wheels

  8. Skinny Wheels Skinny Wheels work best

  9. Poor Wheel Alignment • Axles should be aligned perpendicular to car; if not, • Cars veers to right of left • Excess friction between front and back axles

  10. Moving parts rubbing • Axles rubbing on car body • Axles rubbing on mounting screws or holes • Lever arm against body • String against body or axle • Wheels against body

  11. Drag • Anything that slows or stops the car • Such as: • Friction • Parts hanging off car • Wide lever arm or wheels

  12. Acceleration • Getting the car moving with trap • Strongest possible residual strength in mouse trap • Optimum lever-arm to car length ratio (also consider trap position) • Too long or short of lever arm reduces potential acceleration • Friction reduces acceleration

  13. Torque • Getting power to the wheels: ability to get car moving • Too much torque = less distance (wheel spin) • Too little torque = car will not move • Torque altered by changing power arm angle to axle • Firm string to axle attachment

  14. Momentum • Keeping the car moving after acceleration phase • less friction = greater distance • the heavier the car, the greater the momentum

  15. Long Cars: less torque less speed less momentum much longer acceleration period Short Cars: more torque greater speed more momentum shorter acceleration period Long vs Short Car

  16. Long Car

  17. Short Car

  18. Maximizing distance • longest power arc (arm length) • ideal torque (mousetrap position) • largest wheel diameter (greatest distance per wheel revolution) • smallest axle diameter (most revolutions per inch of string)

  19. Long Arm 2009

  20. Large Wheel Diameter

  21. Large Diameter wheels Small Diameter Axles

  22. Comes Down to Car with • trap not modified • least amount of friction • maximizes design acceleration capability • finds ideal torque for design • most possible momentum • stays on the track

  23. Summary: Building Tips • Large drive wheels • Small drive axle • Do not tie string to axle • Axles perpendicular to car • Correct mouse trap relation to car length

  24. Connecting arm to trap

  25. Tip: Don’t tie string to axle

  26. For More Info….

  27. 2002

  28. Attaching axle to car

  29. drrusshill@gmail.com The End

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