7 years ago
Frictional Forces n the sping mechinisim
9 years ago
Elastic potential, friction, air resistance, weight,
The classic idea behind building an efficient mousetrap car is finding a balance between speed and distance. So, frictional force plays a huge role in this process because you want to try to eliminate as much friction that the wheels have with the floor. When I built mine, I used CD-Roms. There is the force of weight (or force of gravity), which is always present, and is always down. Having a car which is super light may not be able to generate the most momentum, while more moderately heavy cars can generate more momentum.
I am sort of speaking from a Physics standpoint, because you also have the normal force which is perpendicular to the surface the car is moving on. Depending on what you are looking at, there could also be Tension, because it is gradually being released to move the axles.