Students build mouse trap cars
Junior Shelley Pate gets ready to race his mouse trap car.
Ready set GO!
And the race is on. The Pre-AP Physics students spent time in class last six weeks building cars that use mouse traps to provide the power. The creations were required to travel 5 meters in a straight line.
Physics students Gracie Ferguson and Hannah Eakin practice with their mouse trap cars while classmate Shelley Pate watches.
There was a variety of car styles on racing day; some had trouble getting their car to stay together while others couldn’t get their car to start. The project is an annual one for teacher Kyle Gleghorn.
“Every year there are at least three to four good cars and some semi good cars,” physics teacher Kyle Gleghorn said. “This project gives the students the opportunity to use the things we’ve worked on in class and put them to work.”
There were some competitive racers that day, and they all had something different and unique about their car.
“Mine didn’t go the farthest distance, but it was one of the fastest cars,” junior Hannah Eakin said. “I had trouble on racing day with the lever, but I fixed it and got my times for the project.”
The project consisted not only of the race but the report afterwards, which had to include calculations about velocity and net force.
“This project was a bit of a headache, but at the same time it was fun seeing others race their car,” junior Steven Millar said. “In the end I was just glad to have made the distance for the race and get everything turned in on time.”
