Instructional Essay Example: How to Build a Mousetrap Car

Create the perfect mousetrap car by making sure that all steps are followed. The major steps in making your mousetrap car is to make the frame of the car, make the motor, and too make the wheels. The materials you need for the frame are rulers, cardboard. Mousetrap, string, shish kabob stick is used for the motor. To make the wheels, you need CDs, shish kabob sticks, and eye hooks. Scissors and hot glue are used throughout the whole process. If all steps are followed and all materials used correctly the mousetrap car should be able to travel ten meters straight.

To make the frame or base of the mousetrap car you must break down into its own process. First, you must take five rulers and cut two down to ten inches, and the other three to eight issues. The rulers that are ten inches long are the length of the frame and two of the eight-inch rulers are the width of the base. All four of the rulers are glued together at the corners, then take another ruler, cut to ten inches and glue under the frame four inches away from the back part of the frame. The last eight-inch ruler is glued four inches away from the back ruler. Use scissors to cut your piece of cardboard to be eight by four and glue it to the two back rulers that are four inches apart. Be sure to give time to let the glue set before heading to the next step.

To make the motor first take the hammer of the mousetrap and cutting it in half. After cutting the hammer proceed to attach a five-inch shish kabob stick to it using hot glue. Once the hot glue is set tie ten inches of string to the end of the shish kabob stick and hot glue it. The string will then be coiled around the back axle. When the motor is tripped it will close unwinding the string wrapped around the back axle giving it forward momentum. Once done attach the motor to the cardboard platform with once again hot glue.

To make wheels, you must first do some grown work. Take four eye hooks large enough to slide shish kabob sticks through them and gently drill them through the rulers on the four corners. Next, take two shish kabob sticks and slide them through the eye holes these are now your axles. Before putting the CDs on your axles first cut out cardboard squares to put on both sides of all the CDs and poke a hole through each one. This will make it, so the shish kabob stick is snug in the middle of the CD. When positioning your wheels on the axles make sure that they are all straight and an equal distance away from the frame before hot gluing.

After completing all the steps to make the mouse trap car go. The string must be gently wound around the axle and don’t let it slip. Be sure to be gentle because hot glue can only do so much. Keep the shish kabob stick attached to the hammer down before you want to measure your distance. If all steps were followed the Mousetrap car should be able to travel ten meters in a straight line.