Recommendations

Things that went well with our trebuchet was our throws were very consistent and within a five foot radius. It was easy to set up, and had a very smooth release mechanism. It was also quite sturdy and with the throws there was no movement of the base and the entire trebuchet was quite solid. We did also have problems though, instead of having our pouch stitched we pinned some fabric. It did not necessarily affect our throw but it was tiresome when the pins were pulled out as we had to fix the pouch. So one thing to learn is have a pouch that is stitched together and stitched to your sling. Another problem with our trebuchet was our arm, it was not secured in anyway. We just centered it or what we thought was centered and let it fly. If it was secured then it would be quite more consistent. The final tip to give is to make your throwing arm as long as you can, it would greatly increase your distance and it is something that you don't need to worry about when making changes.

Post-Competition Reflection

Our trebuchet's performance in the accuracy competition went quite well, we were second going into the final throw when another group made the right adjustments and had a nice throw. One design flaw in our trebuchet was the alignment of our arm, it ended up being quite crooked by the end and it effected our consistency. I would build a longer arm for our trebuchet, have our arm latched down so it would stay straight and make our counter weight stronger to hold more weight. Our arm length could be tweaked, which would allow us a greater throw.

Photo and Video to be up soon!

Post Four

After seeing our trebuchet perform in the distance competition I was impressed as it did throw an additional few meters from the previous days. It may not be the longest but I do have some confidence in our trebuchet for the accuracy competition. The changes we are planning to make are to reduce the counterweight and make sure that our pouch is secure in order to throw the shorter distance of 15 meters.

Post Three

Theoretical Range: Range = 2* h * (M/m)
                                       = 2 * (0.64 m) * (18.18 kg/ 0.057 kg)
                                       = 408.25 m
The differences between our theoretical range, 408.25 m, and our average on test day, 23.74 m, is quite great. It is a difference of 384. 51 m. I believe that there are many reasons why our trebuchet did not meet our theoretical range, they could be air resistance, the pouch not being perfectly efficient, friction on the throwing arm, the tennis ball not being ideal for being the object thrown by a trebuchet and release angle.

Video and Photo to come shortly!

Test Day

On our test day we had problems with our pouch. It was really holding us back from reaching our maximum distance, as well as our arm for the weight was not strong enough and our release mechanism to hold the other string on the pouch was also not strong enough. With these changes our trebuchet started taking shape for competition day and started throwing the ball. We settled with a counterweight of 40 pounds for competition day and it resulted in us having throws of: 1) 22.1 m   2)24.4 m   3)24.5 m   4)24.1 m   5) 23.6 m    Avg.) 23.74 m

Video and Photo to come shortly!

Paper Trebuchet Wooo!!!

Our paper trebuchet is used so our group can get a better understanding of the concept. It showed us the five factors that effect the trebuchet. The performance factors, which we can control, are the arm length, the release angle and also the mass of the counterweight. These are very key to the success and throw of the projectile. The other two factors, which are environmental and can not be controlled, are air resistance and gravity. This paper model has really allowed us to get a better grip on the trebuchet and we are now feeling confident in our final model.

Trebuchet - Courtesty Riley J

Spring Break

During spring break we flew to Europe. To get over the ocean there was physics used by having the plane do work to counteract the effect of gravity. We also went on elevators, where force from the cables pulled us up the Eiffel Tower and CN Tower. Another example that is like the elevators is the use of the Gondolas to go up to Mount Pilatus.During spring break our means of transportation all used physics.