mousetrap cars and vehicles

A simple way to find the starting energy
This is the only tool of it kind in the world! Designed to accurately find the true value of a mousetrap's spring constant. Once you have the spring constant, you can also calculate a mousetrap's potential energy, efficiency, power output, work, friction, and so much more. One a student knows their starting energy they can compare their vehicle with other students racers in order to make prediction about which will go farther or faster and why. A string attached at the bottom of a disk and fitted into a groove along the top is pulled downward with a force probe or a spring scale. The student records the pulling force for every five-degree increment marked on the disk. The direction of the force does not change, so the scale does not need to be zeroed at different positions. The Torsion Wheel is made of durable, high quality plastic. Lab activities are included.

• Click here to download the manual and the activity guide.

• Click here for free Excel sheets with sample data




Designed by Doc Fizzix to be easy to use
The Torsion Wheel is designed to work with any mousetrap and is made from durable acrylic plastic. The Torsion Wheel comes with a full life time guarantee, if the Torsion Wheel ever breaks or fails just send it back for a free replacement. You will need your own spring scale with a rang from 0- 5 newtons and a c-clamp, the Torsion Wheels will also works with a force probe hooked up to a computer. Please download a copy of our Excel sheet for collecting the data, it is a free download. Excel sheet with sample data.

Includes the following: Torsion Wheel, mousetrap spring holder, lab activity.

Tools needed: spring scale or computer force probe, mousetrap, C-clamp.