science

Gun-powered mousetrap

Gun-powered mousetrap is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Gun-powered mousetrap rather than just read about it. In short: On August 21, 1882, James Alexander Williams from Fredonia, San Saba County, Texas filed a US patent application (issued as United States patent No. 269,766) for a mousetrap incorporating a handgun, "by which animals which burrow in the ground can be destroyed". The Specification suggests that the device might also be used to kill or injure "any person or thing" that opens the door or window that it is attached to.

Key takeaways

Gun-powered mousetrap belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Gun-powered mousetrap to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Gun-powered mousetrap from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

On August 21, 1882, James Alexander Williams from Fredonia, San Saba County, Texas filed a US patent application (issued as United States patent No. 269,766) for a mousetrap incorporating a handgun, "by which animals which burrow in the ground can be destroyed". The Specification suggests that the device might also be used to kill or injure "any person or thing" that opens the door or window that it is attached to. The patent issued on December 26, 1882 and James Alexander Williams said "The object of my invention is to provide a means by which animals who burrow in the ground can be destroyed, and which the trap will give an alarm each time that it goes off, so that it can be reset."

Design US Patent 269,766, issued December 26, 1882, to James Alexander Williams of Fredonia, Mason County, Texas, describes a frame with a pistol or revolver secured to it, and a spring, levers and rod which would activate the gun's trigger when an animal stepped on a treadle in front of the muzzle, killing the animal. Williams said that the invention could also be used to "kill any person or thing opening [a] door or window to which it is attached". He compared it to other similar inventions which were used as burglar alarms. He stated in his patent application that another feature of the design was that the gunshot would act as an alarm: when the trap's gun was fired the gunshot noise would alert the user that the trap had been triggered.

Reception The United States Patent Office has issued more than 4,400 mousetrap patents. The gun-powered mousetrap proved inferior to spring-powered mousetraps descending from William C. Hooker's 1894 patent. However, the 1882 patent has continued to draw interest–including efforts to reconstruct a version of it–due to its unconventional design. In 2015, Vox listed Williams' device as Number 5 on its list of "7 horrifying attempts at building a better mousetrap", and in 2012 Business Insider called it "the best mousetrap ever".

See also Sentry gun – Weapon that automatically aims and fires at targets Spring-gun

References

External links

"US Patent 269766, Animal-trap". patents.google.com. Youtube video: A Crazy 1882 Rodent Trap Design. "The World's Luckiest Rat"

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Gun-powered mousetrap

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Gun-powered mousetrap claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Gun-powered mousetrap before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Gun-powered mousetrap ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Gun-powered mousetrap

In research: Gun-powered mousetrap appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Gun-powered mousetrap in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Gun-powered mousetrap is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1882 introductions, 19th-century inventions, Handguns, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Gun-powered mousetrap outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Gun-powered mousetrap in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Gun-powered mousetrap means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Gun-powered mousetrap out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Gun-powered mousetrap in simple terms?

Why does Gun-powered mousetrap matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Gun-powered mousetrap?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Gun-powered mousetrap.