Jacob admires Jozef’s winning design.
WORKING out how to power a car with the energy stored in a wound-up mousetrap spring was a challenge which confronted a group of Cornerstone Christian College students.
Creating a mousetrap car was the focus of Andrew Cleaver’s Year 9 science class.
Andrew said there were a number of scientific and physics-based concepts that contributed to making a successful car, which students had been learning about in class.
“They had to consider how best to harness the stored energy (in the mousetrap spring) and the most efficient means of using it to drive their cars,” he said.
Some students looked at designs available on the internet, others researched in libraries, and in some cases trial and error was used to determine which designs worked best.
“The idea of the project was to learn about simple machines by applying knowledge about the topic.
“The students enjoyed constructing the cars in the design and technology room, and challenging themselves to achieve the greatest distances.”
Assisted by the Year 11 physics students, the Year 9 class took turns measuring the distance their car travelled, as well as the speed in which they moved.
Andrew said the designs were varied, with some truly creative and inventive cars on display.
The winners were Jozef and Harry, whose car travelled 19.3m.
A close second were Jack and Joel, with an equally as impressive 18m and, third were Rhys and Tim with 13.25m.