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How to Build a Mousetrap Catapult Car

A simple mousetrap is a perfect tool for exploring some basic, powerful principles of physics. The mousetrap is a lever that has four components: a base, a spring to create kinetic energy, a trigger to release the energy, and a metal bar. One way to learn more about the physics of the lever is to build a mousetrap catapult car. This simple project uses the kinetic energy of the spring to generate the car's forward motion.

Things You'll Need

Wooden mousetrap
4 small eye hooks
2 rigid metal or wooden dowels
4 toy wheels
Glue
String
Scissors

Instructions

- 1
  Screw two eye hooks into the base of the mousetrap along the short front edge. The open eyes should be parallel to each other so you can feed the axle horizontally through them. Screw the other two eye hooks to the back edge of the mousetrap in the same way.
- 2
  Feed the dowels through the eye hooks at the front and back. They should be long enough to clear the mousetrap on either side so you can fit the wheels in place. These dowels will serve as axles for the wheels, so they should be able to spin freely in the eye hooks.
- 3
  Glue the wheels to the dowels.
- 4
  Tie one end of the string to the metal arm on the mousetrap with a tight, strong knot. Leave the mousetrap unarmed. Run the string to the back of the mousetrap until it reaches the rear axle. Cut off the excess string.
- 5
  Carefully pull the metal arm back and hold it in place. Wind the string around the rear axle by turning it backward (away from the metal arm).
- 6
  Set the car on a flat surface. When everyone's hands are clear, release the car. The mousetrap arm will snap forward and spin the axle, propelling the car forward.

Educational Toys