Turn a basic mouse trap into a vehicle with only a few additions.
A mouse trap car is powered by the pulling of the arm of the mousetrap on a string that is wound around the axle of the vehicle. It is a common physics class project, and the vehicle consists of inexpensive materials like a mouse trap, wheels, axles and string. Once you have the mechanics of the basic mouse trap car down, you can experiment with modifying it to gain greater speed and distance by changing the tension and length of the string.
Instructions
1. Draw a rectangle that is 1/4 inch from the edges of the trap base using a ruler to ensure proper placement. Drill one hole at each corner of the rectangle through the wooden part of the mouse trap. Screw the eye hooks into the bottom of the mouse trap. These will act as the mounts for your axles.
2. Insert your dowel rods through the eye hooks so they are parallel to one another. Attach the wheels to the ends of the dowel rods. The wheels need to be affixed to rods so they do not rotate around them. Add some glue to the point where the wheel attaches to the rod for each one to make sure it stays in place.
3. Tie one end of your string to the back axle of the mouse trap and add glue around the axle where the string attaches to make sure it doesn't slip because it needs to be able to turn the axle. Tie the other end of your string to the unset bar of the mouse trap so the string is taut.
4. Set the trap and carefully turn the axle that the string is attached to so it winds the string around the axle and the string is taut but not tight enough that it turns the axle before the trap is tripped.
5. Place your mouse trap car on the ground and use a ruler or a pencil to trip the trap, keeping your hands away from the trap to avoid getting them caught. The motion of the arm of the trap pulling the string moves the axle causing the trap car to move.
Tags: mouse trap, around axle, mouse trap, basic mouse, basic mouse trap