Modeling mousetrap car motion with polynomial functions of time

Abstract

Abstract Spring powered cars speed up and then slow down. This paper presents three different methods for modelling this motion. These models express the car’s position and velocity as polynomial functions of time. They can be constructed from only one distance and two time measurements. Mousetrap cars are ideal candidates to be modelled in this way because it is obvious when the spring stops acting to accelerate these cars. This paper presents a spreadsheet which generates positive vs. time and velocity vs. time graphs using these polynomial functions. Students can use this spreadsheet to learn more about the motion of their cars. This tool also enables students to view and evaluate several different representations of that motion.