This document describes the energy transfers that occur in a mouse trap car. When the mouse trap is loaded, it stores potential energy. When triggered, the potential energy is converted to kinetic energy which powers the wheels. As the wheels spin, their kinetic energy is transformed into thermal energy through friction, causing them to slow down until all the energy is dissipated and the car stops.

1. Mouse Trap Car
This will show the energy transfer in
a Mouse trap car
Jack Miller

2. The Mouse Trap
Before it is loaded, the mouse
trap will look like this, it does
not have any energy stored
yet and therefore has no way
of giving energy to the wheels.

3. Loading the mouse trap
When You Load the mouse
trap, it will store energy, this
energy is called potential
energy because it can
potentially become another
type of energy.
Once loaded, the mouse
trap will look like this.

4. The first energy transfer
Once the mouse trap is triggered, it
causes the bar to fly back, in this case the
mouse trap is connected to the wheels, so
the potential energy stored in the mouse
trap becomes kinetic energy to power the
wheels. Thus causing the wheels to spin.

5. The Second energy transfer
As the wheels spin, you may notice
that they slow down, this is because
the kinetic energy given to them
from the mouse trap is turning into
thermal energy, or heat. As the
wheels spin, they create heat due to
the friction between them and the
surface they are spinning on, they
will slow down because the kinetic
energy is changed into potential
energy, and once all the energy in
the wheels has been converted the
car will stop.

6. Transfer diagram
Say the blue is potential the red is kinetic
and the orange is thermal, here is an
example of how the energy transfer takes
place.