Before I played with both ping pong ball and mouse trap. I played with the mouse trap. I got everything set (put the hold-down bar on the small button.) when I tried to put it on the floor it suddenly starts working and clipped on my finger. it's hurt for a long time but I felt how much power this small trap has.
The extruding of the spring gives the potential energy to the equipment. Potential energy is the energy that has been stored but not be used. It converts to the kinetic energy when the equipment is working. Kinetic energy is the energy of motion.
The way to let the ping Pong ball go further, is get the lever arm which is hammer longer and let the ball get out of the equipment in 45 angles.
This is a good experiment about newton's first law.
