DeanGella

JacobCozine
Mr.Hill
PhysicsPeriod6
December9,2014
TrebuchetProject
Objective
TheobjectiveofthislabistobuildatrebuchetinordertodemonstrateseveralPhysics
Principles(ConservationofEnergy,etc.).

Background
AtrebuchetisatypeofcatapultduringtheMiddleAges.Sometrebuchetsdateback
asfarasthe6thcentury,butwerehumanpoweredasopposedtousingcounterweights.
Becausemanycastlewallsandfortificationswereverydurable,trebuchetswereusedasa
siegeenginebecauseoftheirabilitytohurllargeprojectilesoverlongdistanceathigh
speeds.Itwasntuntilthe16thcenturywhentrebuchetsbecameobsolete,afterthe
introductionofgunpowder.

Introduction
Atrebuchetismadeupofaleverarmthatpivotsonanaxle,withacounterweighton
theendofonesideonthelevelarm.Whencocked,thetrebuchetholdspotentialenergywhile
gravitypullsdownontheraisedcounterweight(gravitationalpotentialenergy).Asthe
counterweightfalls,itsdownwardmotioncausestheslingtoswing,thus,thepotentialenergy
isconvertedintokineticenergy.Thiscausestheprojectiletobelaunchedatacertainvelocity.

Materials
Trebuchet,ClassKit(#10210)
Glue
Scissors
String
Clay(projectile)

Diagram

Procedure
1. Assemblethetrebuchet.
2. Puttheclayprojectileintheslingandpullitback.Thiswillcausethethrowingarmto
belowered.
3. Whenreadytofire,letgoofthesling.Thiswillcausetheslingtoflyupandoverthe
throwingarm,causingtheprojectiletofire.
4. Repeatsteps2and3for5moretrials,foratotalof6trials.

Data
Themassoftheclayballis1.1grams,or.0011kilograms.
Boththeanglesandtimeintervalscouldhaveroomforerror,aswedidnthaveaveryprecise
methodtofindingthem(neitherofushavethesoftwaretoseetheexacttimeinthevideos,so
weusedastopwatch).

MaxHeight
(meters)

Angle(belowhorizontal) Distance(deltax) Time(seconds)

Trial1

0.42m

45degrees

0.6858m

0.81s

Trial2

0.46m

47degrees

0.7874m

0.91s

Trial3

0.37m

50degrees

0.7366m

0.84s

Trial4

0.39m

50degrees

0.7112m

0.81s

Trial5

0.38m

48degrees

0.7366m

0.85s

Trial6

0.41m

45degrees

0.762m

0.90s

Calculations
EachcalculationisusedwithTrial1.
InitialVelocity:
y=(vi^2(sinA)^2)/(2*9.81)=4.06m/s(Trial1)
Totalamountofenergy:
Potentialenergy+kineticenergy=mgh+()mv^2=0.0136
J
Percentofenergytransferredtoprojectile:
(*m*v^2)/(mgh)=2.00J
Discussion
Forthisproject,weassembledtheclasskitTrebuchet(#10210).Wefirstputtogether
theslingbyusingfishingline.Becausethefishinglinewasbendanddistorted,thetrebuchet
didn'tworkproperlyatfirst.Tofixthis,wedecidedtousedyarnstring,whichwasmore
suitablethanthefishingline.Wealsoexperienceddifficultieswiththelengthofthestring,
sincebothsidesoftheslinghadtobethesamelength.Becauseweranoutofclasstimeto
collectdata,wedecidedtobringithomeandcollectourdatathere.Therearedefinitelyalot
ofsourcesforerrorinthisproject,suchasfindingtheangleatwhichtheprojectilewas
launched.

Reflection
Oneofthebiggestpartsofthisprojectwaslearningtheengineeringpartofthe
trebuchet.Asagroup,wehadtoassembleeachpartofthetrebuchetandfigureoutwhere
eachpiecelinks.
I(Jacob)thoughtthatthisprojectwasveryannoyinganddifficult.However,whenwe
finallygotthetrebuchetworking,itwasprettycool.Wehadatonofdifficultygettingthe
trebuchetworking.Thislabmademerealizejusthowamazingourtechnologyistoday.
PeopleintheMiddleAgeshadtousetrebuchetstoattackcastles,andthoseonesweremuch
biggerandmoreunwieldy.

Bibliography

"Trebuchet."
Trebuchet
.N.p.,n.d.Web.06Dec.2014.

"TrebuchetPhysics."
RealWorldPhysicsProblems
.N.p.,n.d.Web.07Dec.2014.