Projectiles

History
• Ever since humans learnt how to chuck rocks
to hunt or defend themselves we have been
learning about projectiles.
• A projectile is any object that is thrown
through the air by giving it an initial speed
• Humans have been throwing projectiles for
thousands of years....
 The Trebuchet
• What you just saw was a Trebuchet – a
medieval catapult used to break down walls
and destroy buildings.
For the rest of the day we will learn:
• How trebuchets work
• How to calculate the speed of the projectiles
• What angle to use to go a certain distance
• How to make our own trebuchet
• How to hit targets with our own trebuchets
 Energy
• In order to make projectiles move we must
give them some energy
• This morning your experiments involved
Chemical potential energy from a chemical
reaction but trebuchets are different
• Where do they get there energy from?
 Gravitational Potential Energy
• GPE is energy an object can store due to its
position in a gravitational field
• The higher up something is the more GPE it
has!

• GPE = mass x gravitational field strength x height

(J) (kg) (N/kg) (m)
Try doing the problem in your booklet!
 GPE Trebuchet calculation
• Medieval counterweight has a mass of 2500kg
• Raised to a height of 6m
• On Earth so g = 10 N/kg

• GPE = m x g x h
• GPE = 2500 x 10 x 6 = 150,000 J
 Kinetic Energy
• GPE is a store of energy but to make
something move we have to transfer that
energy to Kinetic energy!

• Kinetic Energy = ½ x mass x speed2

• But how do you change one to the other?

 Conservation of Energy
• A force can change one type of energy to
another!
• The force of gravity (Weight) changes the GPE
to KE

• GPE of counterweight = KE of projectile

• So 150,000 J of GPE = 150,000 J of KE
 Calculate the speed
• To find speed we rearrange the Kinetic energy
equation:

• Speed = (Kinetic Energy / (½ x mass))

• But GPE = Kinetic Energy
• Speed = (GPE/ (½ x mass))
Try doing the problem in your booklet!
Speed of the projectile calculation
• GPE = 150,000 J
• Mass of projectile = 50kg

• Speed = (GPE/ (½ x mass))

• Speed = (150,000J/ (½ x 50)) = 77m/s
 Challenge!
• Work out the mass of the counterweight that
will give you a speed (between 1 and 30m/s)
for the 15kg projectile that will hit the target
on the screen.
 The angle of release
• In the clip we saw lots of projectiles hitting
different objects by loosing them at different
angles
• A different angle changes how high and how
far the projectile travels but its not as simple
as it looks.....
 Different targets!
• Walls, things behind them
• High targets, Low targets
• Near targets, Distant targets!
Lets just focus on distance

The formula for distance is:

Distance = Speed2 x Sin 2 / gravitational field strength

Try the calculation in your booklet

 Distance of projectile calculation
• Speed of projectile = 77 m/s
• Angle of release  = 30

Distance = Speed2 x Sin 2 / gravitational field strength

• Distance = 772 x Sin (2x 30) = XXXm
 Finding the angle
• To find the angle for our Trebuchets we need
to rearrange the distance equation in two
steps:
Step 1
Sin 2 = Distance x gravitational field strength / Speed2
Step 2
q = (Sin-1 (Answer)) / 2

Try the calculation in your booklet

 Angle of the projectile calculation
• Distance = 10 m
• Speed = 22 m/s
• On Earth so g = 10 N/kg
Sin 2 = Distance x gravitational field strength / Speed2
• Sin 2 = 10 x 10 / 222 =
•  = (Sin-1 (Answer)) / 2 =
 Challenge!
• Work out the angle of the cannon that fires at
22 m/s will hit the target on the screen.
 How far can you go?
• What angle for any speed makes you
projectile go the furthest?
Making a Trebuchet
 Making a Trebuchet
• Follow the instructions in your booklet

• Once you’ve made your trebuchet read the

method for the Angle practical
 Angle and distance
• Use the wooden platforms and a protractor to
change the angle of your trebuchet
• For each angle measure the distance the
projectile reaches
 The war of the mini soldiers
• You have 10 warriors and your trebuchets
• Knock over your opponents warriors with your
projectiles!
 Outside....
• Outside we have a larger trebuchet and
several targets. Calculate the angle of release
to hit the targets