Mousetrap car material suggestions

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Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around a physics assessment task involving a mousetrap car designed to lift a 10g film barrister one meter high as slowly as possible. Participants are exploring material suggestions and design modifications to achieve this goal using specified equipment.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Assumption checking, Problem interpretation

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • The original poster attempts to slow down the motion of the mousetrap using bamboo and cardboard, questioning the effectiveness of these materials. Other participants inquire about the feasibility of extending the mousetrap's swing and suggest using the bottle's design to modify speed.

Discussion Status

The discussion is ongoing, with participants sharing ideas and questioning the assumptions behind the proposed methods. Suggestions for material use and design adjustments are being explored, but no consensus has been reached yet.

Contextual Notes

The original poster is limited to the materials provided by their teacher, which influences the design possibilities being considered.

Hyperreality
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I am currently doing a physics assessment. The aim of the assessment is to lift a 10g film barrister one meter high as slow as possible. The equipments provided are:

2m of string
A standard mousetrap
1.5L PET Bottle + Lids
Up to 3m of Bamboos
Paper Clips (Use for adhesive, not for construction)
Any types of glues.(Used for adhesive, not for construction)
A cardboard.

So far I got everything figured out and ready to go, but I cannot find any ways to slow down the motion of the mousetrap. I was thinking of using the maleiability of the bamboos to slow down the motion of the mousetrap, but I doubt that would work. I also thought of making a spring by using the cardboard to counter the spring force of the mousetrap, but that didn't have much effect.

Any suggestion would be greatly appreciated

The mousetrap I'm using is the 13th image on this website:

http://ww.udel.edu/~mcdonald/mousetrap.html
 
Last edited by a moderator:
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Hi Hyperreality,
can you make the bamboo grow?
 
Unfortunately no, the 3m bamboos are provided by my teacher.
 
Could you use one of the bamboos to extend the mousetraps swing, then the differentiated sizing of the 1.5 L bottles neck, and body, to effectively "Gear" the speed, and thereby decerease its overall speed??
 

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