How Do You Adapt A Mousetrap Car For Speed?
It’s time to race that mousetrap car, and you want yours to be the fastest? Then this is the right article for you! Remember, if you choose speed, your car will go a shorter distance, but it will go faster. If you want your car to go the farthest, read Adapt a Mousetrap Car for Distance. • The deck-you want to reduce weight, which will reduce rolling friction with the ground. Trim the deck down so it is the size of the mousetrap before using glue to attach the mousetrap to the deck. When gluing down the deck, put it as close to the back wheels as it can be without touching. • Use glue whenever you need to attach something. Tape can be used too, but glue is smoother and weighs less. Whatever you do, don’t use metal bolts; they just add weight! • For the lever arm-trim it down so that it’s end is just at the rear axle. It’s probably going to be very short, which is good–the shorter it is, the faster it can pull the wheels. Size your wheels: the front wheels do not matter, but you might
• The deck-you want to reduce weight, which will reduce rolling friction with the ground. Trim the deck down so it is the size of the mousetrap before using glue to attach the mousetrap to the deck. When gluing down the deck, put it as close to the back wheels as it can be without touching. • Use glue whenever you need to attach something. Tape can be used too, but glue is smoother and weighs less. Whatever you do, don’t use metal bolts; they just add weight! For the lever arm-trim it down so that it’s end is just at the rear axle. It’s probably going to be very short, which is good–the shorter it is the better. It should be either the same size or slightly smaller than the back wheels. The back wheels should be as small as possible, and the back axle should be as large as possible. You might even want to wind tape around the inside of it where the string will wind to add speed (good string grip). Old CD’s make good wheels because they are thin and create less friction.
• The deck-you want to reduce weight, which will reduce rolling friction with the ground. Trim the deck down so it is the size of the mousetrap before using glue to attach the mousetrap to the deck. When gluing down the deck, put it as close to the back wheels as it can be without touching. • Use glue whenever you need to attach something. Use glue whenever you need to attach something. Tape can be used too, but glue is smoother and weighs less. Whatever you do, don’t use metal bolts; they just add weight! For the lever arm-trim it down so that it’s end is just at the rear axle. It’s probably going to be very short, which is good–the shorter it is the better. It should be either the same size or slightly smaller than the back wheels. The back wheels should be as small as possible, and the back axle should be as large as possible. You might even want to wind tape around the inside of it where the string will wind to add speed (good string grip). Old CD’s make good wheels because they a
