Final Physics Analysis of Mousetrap Car:
- How does Friction affect the performance of your car?
- What problems related to friction did you encounter and how did you solve them?
- How many wheels does your car have? How did you decide on this number?
My car has four wheels, we decided on that because our design had two smaller wheels on the front and two larger wheels on the back.
- What kind of wheels did you use on your car? Were they the same for both axles? How did your wheels affect the performance of your car?
- What is the effect of using large diameter wheels vs. small diameter wheels?
- What is the effect of using wide vs. narrow wheels?
- Explain Newton’s 1st Law in your own words:
- Explain Newton’s 2nd Law in your own words:
- Explain Newton’s 3rd Law in your own words:
- Describe how Newton’s 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Laws apply to the performance of your car:
2nd law- If all the wheels of the car are facing forwards than no matter what, when the mousetrap is set and launched it will go forwards no matter what.
3rd law-The car's weight/gravity, wants it to stay on the ground so a force pushes the car down, when the mousetrap is launched it forces the car to move defying gravity trying to push the car down.
- Define “Acceleration” in your own words:
- Did your car ACCELERATE during its tests? How can you tell?
- Did your car have a positive acceleration during the ENTIRE test? How can you tell?
- Discuss the major problems encountered in the performance of your car and what you did to solve them.
Self Evaluation & Reflection:
Answer the following questions in complete paragraphs. Use evidence to support your statements.
- How did I use my class time? Did I waste time or use my time effectively?
- How did I use my Instructor and class resources to complete my project? Did classmates share information regarding web sites and other information on mousetrap cars?
- If I were to do this same project again, what would I do differently?
- Did I work hard to understand the physics behind my car design and use that knowledge to make improvements? If so, how and if not, why?
- On a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest, what score do you think you deserve for this project and why?