Building a Mousetrap Car for High School Physics Class

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around designing a mousetrap car for a high school physics project, specifically focusing on the requirement for the car to move forward 3 meters, reverse 2 meters, and then move forward 3 meters again, using only the power of a mousetrap.

Discussion Character

  • Homework-related, Exploratory

Main Points Raised

  • One participant describes the project requirements and seeks suggestions for building a mousetrap car that meets specific movement criteria.
  • Another participant suggests looking for information online, mentioning a Wikipedia article as a potential resource.
  • A participant expresses that the online resources do not adequately address the unique movement requirements of the project.
  • A later reply reiterates the suggestion to search online and provides a link to a specific resource that may contain relevant design information.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants do not appear to reach consensus on the adequacy of online resources, with some feeling that they do not address the specific project requirements.

Contextual Notes

The discussion reflects a lack of clarity on how to achieve the specified movement sequence with the constraints of using only a mousetrap for power.

Who May Find This Useful

Students working on similar physics projects, educators looking for project ideas, and individuals interested in mechanical design challenges.

CGC0805
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Member has been advised to post such question in the homework forums in the future.
I am in a high school physics class and have been recently assigned a mouse trap. We were given a mouse trap, that is all, and sent out on our own to create one. The requirements for this specific mousetrap car are to go forward 3 meters, then backwards 2 meters, and finally forward three meters again.
The mouse trap has to be our only source of power and we cannot use a rat trap. Any Suggestions would be great.
 
Physics news on Phys.org
Have you looked on the web? There is even a Wikipedia article.
 
  • Like
Likes   Reactions: berkeman
Yes I did but it doesn't help with the idea of forwards backwards then forwards again
 

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