Isabel Muschweck

Mrs. Goodwin

5 April 2018

Conceptual Physics

Mousetrap Car Write Up

Newton's first law is the law of inertia, which states an object at rest will remain at rest unless
acted on by an unbalanced force. With our mousetrap cars this law was applied when you
released the mousetrap that was at rest which will now move due to the motion of the mousetrap
closing. Newton's second law is the law of acceleration, which means acceleration is produced
when a force acts on a mass. This is also showed when the mousetrap is released as the release of
the trap causes the car to accelerate. Newton's third law is for every action there is an equal and
opposite reaction. This is showed in our mousetrap cars as with newton's third law it means that
for every force there is a reaction force that is equal in size but opposite in direction. When you
released the mousetrap car the force applied to the car by the mousetrap causes a push on the car
which causes it to move.

Energy was conserved by the car during the run because of the strings force pulling back against
the car causing it to conserve energy. When you release the mousetrap that makes the car
accelerate the string on the axle will slowly start to unravel, the string pulls back on the car
which causes it to conserve energy. Potential energy was involved because it is the energy an
object has because of the force applied and with the force of the mousetrap it allows for the car
to have energy to move. Kinetic energy was involved as it is energy due to motion and with the
moving of the car it shows that the car has energy which shows kinetic energy.

The two main simple machines used to design this car were a pulley (the string on the axle
allowing the car to accelerate) and a lever which would be the rod on the mousetrap that you
release to move the car. The mousetrap car would be a second-class lever, A second class lever
has the fulcrum at an end, effort on the other end, and load in the middle. This is showed in our
mousetrap cars as the effort of the mousetrap release causes the car to accelerate. Simple
machines influence the mousetrap car design as without them building the car would not be
possible.

Throughout the process of building the mousetrap car I learned how simple machines and
newtons laws come together in building the mousetrap car. When building my mousetrap car, I
did have difficulty attaching the string to the axle which would make the car accelerate. My car
did move but it only would move a couple of inches each time. The strength of my car was that it
was very sturdy, and the wheels were very sturdy, but my weakness was that I could not get the
car to accelerate far enough. In the future I would probably have changed the way I designed my
axle and the position of my mousetrap which would hopefully allow for the car to move faster
and further.