Mouse Trap Cars and Powered Vehicles Pictures

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mousetrap powered SPEED car kits Call for availability WOW! This kit comes with everything you need to build a record setting speed car. This car will go as fast as 1.2 second over a five meter distance. Comes with ball bearings, foam wheels, wood, string, low inertia front wheels, and brass tubing for axle and lever arm. This kit takes about 2-3 hours to put completely together. Age level: 13 and up. Kit includes: two ball bearings, wood, two low inertia foam wheels, two low inertia aluminum wheels, string, lever arm and axle tubing, and a mouse trap.		Click to Order

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Designing a Car for Speed? If you are trying to build a fast mouse trap powered car you will need to think about the following concepts as you build your car: Inertia, rotational inertia, friction, torque, and pulling force. Inertia is the resistance that an object has to a change in its state of motion, the more inertia an object has the more force that will be required to change is state of motion. A heavy car will required more pulling force than a lighter car for equal acceleration; therefor, lighter cars will be easier to accelerate. Rotational inertia is the resistance that a wheel or rotation object has to changing its state of rotation. Similar to inertia but dealing with a rotating object. The less rotational inertia that an object (wheel) has the less the torque that will be needed to change its state of rotation or the easier it will be to accelerate. There are two types of friction, surface friction and fluid friction. Surface friction is caused by the rubbing of two surfaces in contact with on another. Where your axle connects to the frame of your vehicle is one place that you will find surface friction on your car. By reducing the surface friction with graphite powered or ball bearings you will see an increased performance with your vehicle. Traction is a wanted surface friction that is between your vehicles wheels and the flooring, increasing your tracking will allow for greater accelerations because it will take more torque to make the wheels spin out or break loose. Fluid friction is caused by an object trying to move the air out of the way. Make your car aerodynamic so that it is easier to push the air aside. Torque depends on the length of your mouse trap cars lever arm and the strength of the mousetrap's spring. A long lever arm has the same torque as a shorter arm. The difference between a long lever arm and a short lever arm is that you get more pulling force with a short arm than a long arm. To maximize your acceleration you want a shorter lever arm. Keep in mind that if your arm is too short the force will be large enough to cause the wheels to spin-out, wasting energy. Explanation of Pictures Mass is a very important factor with mousetrap cars. To accelerate quickly you will need to decrease your mass by building a light weight frame out of balsa wood or some other light weight material. Notice the the wheels are also light weight with little rotational inertia. One thing you will notice with these vehicles is that the mousetrap is positioned fairly close to the drive axle, this increases the torque of the lever arm and increases the pulling force causing greater acceleration. To increase your mouse trap cars traction try putting rubber bands around the drive wheels or try using the middle of a balloon. Click here for an example of the balloon trick. Speed Car Pics Click any picture for a larger view

mousetrap powered car basic kits $14.95 A great kit! Comes with everything you need to build a top notch mouse trap powered car. Depending on how you want to build it, it could be a top distance, speed, power pull, and more vehicle. It can also carry large loads like soda cans and large weights. Head-ache free, this mouse trap car can be built in 30 minutes. This mouse trap powered car will travel more than 30 meters or 90 feet. Great for first time builders! Age level 13 and up. Kit comes with the following: Plans, Wood for frame, brass tubing, compact disk for wheels, lever are extension, thrust bearings, wheel spacers, string, axle hook, and mouse trap. Size: Frame is 18 inches long and 3 inches wide. ORDER PAGE Item Number K100DF

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