How to Build a Mousetrap Car for Science Class: With Step by step Instructions on How to Make it Go the Distance
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My eldest son has come home twice now with instructions from a teacher to build a mousetrap car. There is a lot on the internet which provides video and instructions. The following is the result of the modifications made to various designs seen and improvements made from the first try to the most recent version of this vehicle. A warning: mousetraps are delicate instruments of death to the unwary mouse. Even following the instructions given may result in fingers being snapped accidentally and it will hurt. Slow and steady as they say wins the race. Following these instructions but working slowly and carefully and having an extra body around for assistance should reduce or eliminate finger or other bodily damage!
Assemble Materials for your Mousetrap Car
- mousetrap
- four eye hooks
- two pencils
- pliers
- 4 CD's or DVD's
- 2 pop can tabs
- electrical tape
- fishing wire
- drill
Instructions for Assembling your Mousetrap Car
1. Drill two shallow holes on each of the short ends of the mousetrap about ½ inch in from each end.
2. Screw in the eye hooks, one into each hole. Make sure the eye hooks are level by placing each short end of the mousetrap against a hard cover book.
3. Cut the square snap bar where it attaches to the middle bar to the right of the mouse (red V). This step will give greater leverage and greater potential energy when launching the vehicle.
4. Using pliers, straighten the bar so it is parallel to the long side of the mousetrap.
5. Cut the tops of two pop can tabs (where they attach to the can). Bend the cut tabs in slightly. These bent-in tabs will be used to grip the pencil in step 10.
6. Fit a pencil through a pop tab, both eye hooks, and the second pop tab. Center the pencil and mark each side of the pencil about 1 to 1½ inches out from each eye hook.
7. Wrap electrical tape carefully around the pencil at the mark. Position the CD hole over the tape periodically and stop wrapping when the CD will fit snugly onto the wrapped tape.
8. Repeat steps 6 and 7 for the other short side of the mousetrap but make sure the interior axle-length of this side is longer than created in Steps 6 and 7.
9. Drill a hole through the center of the pencil (on the 'mouse' side of the mousetrap).
10. Make sure the pop tabs are very close to the eye hooks and then pinch the cut ends of the pop tabs to the pencil to keep the pencil (axle) from shifting side ways. Bend the tabs away from the eye hooks if necessary to allow the pencil to rotate freely. Make sure the pencil can rotate freely. Repeat this step with the other two pop tabs for the opposite axle.
11 Using pliers, straighten the bar from the point it meets the top of the mousetrap towards the inside so it will not interfere with the motion of either wheel.
12. Measure the fishing wire from the tip of the bar to about two inches past the tip of the mouse's nose.
13. If you have not already done so, remove the straight bar anchored at the tip of the mouse's nose.
14. Cover the edges of the back wheels (mouse points to these!) with electrical tape to reduce slippage at take-off.
15. Slip the fishing wire through the hole drilled through the pencil in Step 9 and knot it securely.
16. Make a loop at the top of the straight bar.
17. Tie the other end of the fishing wire to the loop at the top of the bar and secure it with electrical tape.
Launching the Mousetrap Car
1. Rotate the back wheels slowly to wrap the fishing line around the axle (pencil) until the line is taut.
2. Pull back the bar and continue winding again until the wire is taut (potential energy for the vehicle is obtained in these steps).
3. Hold onto the back wheels and place the car onto smooth ground in an area where there is ample room (at least 20 feet of horizontal distance).
4..Let go of the wheels and watch your car speed away.
5. If the car does not travel in a straight line, adjustments must be made. Check the pop tabs to make sure the axles cannot move from side to side. Ensure that the axles are aligned properly. If you did not ensure that the eye hooks were level with each other your vehicle will not travel in a straight line.
Most importantly, have fun! Rome wasn't built in a day and your mousetrap vehicle may not be built in an hour. Part of the fun is tweaking your vehicle to make it work better and more efficiently. Modifications to the design presented here are possible. GOOD LUCK!
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Josh and Amy, reexamine the steps. I have added to the instructions regarding the pop tabs. Check out the slide show and enlarge the slides containing the pop tabs (step 13 slide should show the tab placement clearly). I will add new pictures at a later date.
Thanks Rebecca. This was one of my very first hubs. Some of the recent comments indicate I need a few revisions. I'll be updating the photos very shortly for at least one of the steps.
'Sounds like a good project to embark on some rainy (or hot) summer day when everyone is bored.Thanks for the ideas, it's really cute. I really like the fact that the materials are so common and easy to get!
Perhaps they might work but they are more fragile than pencils and might break when the ca r is released.
amys right please show more details on the pop can part!
wouldnt BBQ sticks be better than pencils?
i really like how you have it step by step but you didnt really show more detail on where to put the pop can tabs
Good question ebony. I have added a step and modified the step you questioned about the curved bar. We made a loop at the top of the bar and then tied the fishing line to that loop. The electrical tape adds extra security to make sure the fishing line stays attached. This bar is the same one referred to in step 4!
I'm confused on what the curved bar is in step 16
Hope you had success in making one Andrew!
Awesme
It does really work but I have seen it done well with high school students. My son did have to do something similar however for a grade 8 science class and although it was hard the majority of the class was successful. When ever I have done any kind of experiment with a class I have always made a prototype first so I know what problems they will run into. In any event, the mistakes the kids make are just as important to the learning process as the successes. The mouse trap cars that my sons have made have all worked, some better than others which will always be the case. It can be done!
Will it really work cause im doing it for a project in 8th grade and it seems soooooo hard
Awesome. If you get a chance person123 let me know how the project turns out with your class!
I am using this for an eight grade project
awesome car nice distances?
im goin in
I hope you get a chance to try out the design!
Very cool
Very cool
My son has done this project for Grade 9 Auto shop in which case he was just having fun. He also did it again a few weeks ago for Grade 11 physics. In this case, as he was able to explain why he used some of the modifications he incorporated tells me he was applying the principles of force and motion he has been learning in class.
Very complete insructions. What grade do they usually do this project and do the students actually learn anything or just have fun?
Thanks for commenting Becky and Learn from Me. My son learned a lot of patience from completing this activity. It was a great bonding experience for him and his dad as it really is helpful to have two people working on the project. But be careful with those mousetraps! A class could have a lot of fun building, decorating and having a Nascar Mousetrap race! As well, in physics a number of their problem sets could be put to practical practice! Glad you enjoyed the hub!
Will use this one with my daughter in homeschool. It looks fun. Thanks
This is an awesome step-by-step hub of how to make a mousetrap car! A teacher of gifted students in my school does this with her classes and races the cars down the hallway. I love to walk in and see the kids with their safety goggles and tools trying to put the cars together. It really is an interesting project! Thanks for sharing!
AndriyR 8 hours ago
Great instructions! Never knew a mousetrap can be a car. Gotta try it myself! Thank you!