TREBUCHET PROJECTILE MOTION
A trebuchet is a machine used in medieval warfare to throw large stones or other projectiles using the energy of a fixed or free-falling counterweight. The task and goal of the project was to build a working trebuchet from a certain era that could throw an object using a free-falling counterweight, while staying within a $30 budget. The purpose of the project was to understand and represent, using a trebuchet, the different kinds of potential and kinetic energy.
a) There are three main components that go into a functioning trebuchet concerning the swing arm, the sling, the angle of release, and the ratio of the counterweight to the projectile. First, the length of the payload arm should be 3.75 times longer than the counterweight arm. Second, the sling should be the same length as the payload arm, and the angle between the counterweight arm and the support should be 45 degrees at launch. The trebuchet that my group built followed all of these guidelines, except the launch angle should’ve been at 45 degrees, and it made a decent impact on our projectile motion. In order to have a really well-working trebuchet, you need to have the right amount of velocity and acceleration. You create the most amount of potential energy by holding your counterweight at its highest possible point and holding it there. When you release it and let it fall, that’s when the kinetic energy is released and projectile motion is created. After the projectile is released from the swing arm, its acceleration changes as it is pulled down to the ground by gravity and loses its velocity.
Gravity : 9.8 m / g²
Potential Energy : PE = mgh
Kinetic energy : KE = 1 / 2 m v²
Velocity : ᇫd / ᇫt
Acceleration : A = ᇫv / ᇫt
b) During this project there was a lot of collaboration and collective thinking among your group (as well as other groups) to make a functioning trebuchet that you could be proud of during exhibition. Many times something wouldn't work and you had to use critical thinking to find out what the problem was and fix it. When painting and decorating your trebuchet creativity was key in representing your culture well. During the set up for exhibition there was a lot of communication between the groups to get all of the trebuchets transported to and from the school smoothly. Each 21st century skill was very convenient when you had to work with other people to make things run smoothly.
c) I think one thing that challenged me and my group as a whole was being productive when we didn’t know what to do with our project. When we would get confused, mostly when we were building the frame, we would procrastinate and not get much done with the time we were given. At one point we were trying to figure out how to attach two pieces and we weren’t really sure how to, so we just sat around without doing much besides talking about how we might fix it. But eventually when it was crunch time, we had to get it together and make stuff happen. In the end, it just worked out.
d) I was able to contribute a lot of ideas when it was time to come up with ideas for decorating our trebuchet. My group had to represent Ancient China as our culture, the obvious choice was going to be using Chinese symbols, but then we added more components like a dragon and some other traditional Chinese calligraphy. My more creative skills helped my group to really exemplify our culture we chose as part of the project rubric.
A trebuchet is a machine used in medieval warfare to throw large stones or other projectiles using the energy of a fixed or free-falling counterweight. The task and goal of the project was to build a working trebuchet from a certain era that could throw an object using a free-falling counterweight, while staying within a $30 budget. The purpose of the project was to understand and represent, using a trebuchet, the different kinds of potential and kinetic energy.
a) There are three main components that go into a functioning trebuchet concerning the swing arm, the sling, the angle of release, and the ratio of the counterweight to the projectile. First, the length of the payload arm should be 3.75 times longer than the counterweight arm. Second, the sling should be the same length as the payload arm, and the angle between the counterweight arm and the support should be 45 degrees at launch. The trebuchet that my group built followed all of these guidelines, except the launch angle should’ve been at 45 degrees, and it made a decent impact on our projectile motion. In order to have a really well-working trebuchet, you need to have the right amount of velocity and acceleration. You create the most amount of potential energy by holding your counterweight at its highest possible point and holding it there. When you release it and let it fall, that’s when the kinetic energy is released and projectile motion is created. After the projectile is released from the swing arm, its acceleration changes as it is pulled down to the ground by gravity and loses its velocity.
Gravity : 9.8 m / g²
Potential Energy : PE = mgh
Kinetic energy : KE = 1 / 2 m v²
Velocity : ᇫd / ᇫt
Acceleration : A = ᇫv / ᇫt
b) During this project there was a lot of collaboration and collective thinking among your group (as well as other groups) to make a functioning trebuchet that you could be proud of during exhibition. Many times something wouldn't work and you had to use critical thinking to find out what the problem was and fix it. When painting and decorating your trebuchet creativity was key in representing your culture well. During the set up for exhibition there was a lot of communication between the groups to get all of the trebuchets transported to and from the school smoothly. Each 21st century skill was very convenient when you had to work with other people to make things run smoothly.
c) I think one thing that challenged me and my group as a whole was being productive when we didn’t know what to do with our project. When we would get confused, mostly when we were building the frame, we would procrastinate and not get much done with the time we were given. At one point we were trying to figure out how to attach two pieces and we weren’t really sure how to, so we just sat around without doing much besides talking about how we might fix it. But eventually when it was crunch time, we had to get it together and make stuff happen. In the end, it just worked out.
d) I was able to contribute a lot of ideas when it was time to come up with ideas for decorating our trebuchet. My group had to represent Ancient China as our culture, the obvious choice was going to be using Chinese symbols, but then we added more components like a dragon and some other traditional Chinese calligraphy. My more creative skills helped my group to really exemplify our culture we chose as part of the project rubric.