The idea of the trebuchet design relies on the principle that stored potential energy of the counterweight can be converted into kinetic energy of the projectile, launching it into the air. Having the counterweight pivot around a much shorter distance than the projectile end gives an advantage to the projectile end of the beam to reach a much higher linear velocity than the counterweight end of the beam. This is the principle mechanical advantage that allows the projectile to have a high launch velocity. The main goal is to maximize the ratio of the length of the arm to the distance in which the apple travels.
While drag and gravity are the only forces acting on the apple after it’s been released, there are many forces that act on the trebuchet
…show more content…
If we let the origin be at the pivot point, the torque created by this force can be modeled by torque(weight)= M*g*.21*cos(훳) Nm
Where 훳 equals the angle of the arm with respect to the horizontal. There is also a torque acting in the counterclockwise direction. This force is caused by the mass of the arm. It can be reasonably assumed that the arm has a uniform density since the thickness is the same throughout and the arm is made of only one material, and so we can say that the center of mass must be located at the midpoint of the arm. Using this, we can model the torque caused by the mass of the arm by torque(bar)= (mass of bar)*g*.79*cos(훳) Nm where 훳 is the same as 훳 in the previous equation. This means the total torque can be measured by summing those two values. The trebuchet creates it’s own system of transferred energy. Due to air resistance and the presence of friction, the energy is not conserved throughout the system. The system loses energy during the apples parabolic flight. The work done by the drag force (air resistance) makes the horizontal distance be less than expected. The energy of this system starts as a potential energy coming from the hanging mass that exists at the end of the lever arm. When the calculations are to be put into place, we can set the height to be at the base of the trebuchet. Using the equation for potential
First the energy of conservation. The setting of the trebuchet before firing is shown in Fig 1. A heavy counterweight of mass (M) (contained in a large bucket) on the end of the short arm of a sturdy beam was raised to some height while a smaller mass (m) (the projectile), was positioned on the end of the longer arm near or on the ground. In practice the projectile was usually placed in a leather sling attached to the end of the longer arm. However for simplicity, we shall ignore the sling and compensate for this omission by increasing the assumed length of the beam on the projectile’s side. The counterweight was then allowed to fall so that the longer arm swung upward, the sling following, and the projectile was ultimately thrown from its container at some point near the top of the arc. The far end of the sling was attached to the arm by a rope in such a way that the release occurred at a launching angle near the optimum value ( most likely by repeated trials) for the launch height. The launching position is shown in fig.2 where we have assumed that the projectile is released at the moment the entire beam is vertical. In the figures: (a)=height of the pivot, (b)= length of the short arm, (c)= length of the long arm, while (v) and (V) are the velocities of (m) and (M), respectively, at the moment of launching.
For almost as long as civilizations began they have been fighting against each other. Often times these wars come down to who has the better military equipment. When one army creates an elite war machine another army is sure to soon copy or improve it. For example the U.S. Army Signal Corps purchased the first ever military aircraft in 1902 (Taylor). Two years later the Italians were also using aircrafts. The trebuchet catapult is no exception; it was one of the most destructive military machines of its time (Chevedden, 2000). A trebuchet works by using the energy of a falling counterweight to launch a projectile (Trebuchet). In this research paper I intend to explain the history and dynamics of a trebuchet catapult.
The purpose of the projectile lab is to test the validity of the law of conservation of energy. The application of this law to our everyday lives is a surprisingly complicated process. Conservation of energy states that energy cannot be created or destroyed, but that it can be transferred from one form to another. Consider the projectile lab from document A that this essay is based upon. In an ideal experiment, the projectile is isolated from everything except the gravitational field. In this case, the only force acting on the particle is gravity and there are only two forms of energy that are of interest: the energy of the particle due to its motion (defined as kinetic
Standing some 3 feet tall, this trebuchet could repeatedly launch a 2-3oz object in excess of 20 feet.
Non-trebuchet catapults are powered by torsion. The energy is stored in twisted animal sinew or vine-based ropes. Trebuchets are powered by a large counterweight or counterforce, which when released, falls and pulls a swing arm up and over with a sling containing the projectile. At the right angle the sling is released sending the projectile to the target. In its simplest form, a trebuchet is a lever.
Take your trebuchet to the designated area you are told. Place the looped end of the sling over the firing pin on the throwing arm you have made. Place your cork/ object being fired in the sling basket. Pull the cork and mesh basket down to the opposite end of the platform until the firing pin is just above the platform with the cork and sling resting on the cardboard platform. Make sure you are not around anyone and then release the cork and the sling basket. Measure the distance the cork traveled and record the distance.
The exact date that the trebuchet was created is unknown, however, we do know that it was introduced into battle around the 12th century (Gillmore,1981). It originally started out as people pulling on ropes quickly to launch a projectile over a castle wall. This form of trebuchet
Vrock= Vcenter of mass + Wrock Where V is the translational velocity, and W is the angular velocity
This paper will explain a few of the key concepts behind the physics of skydiving. First we will explore why a skydiver accelerates after he leaps out of the plane before his jump, second we will try and explain the drag forces effecting the skydiver, and lastly we will attempt to explain how terminal velocity works.
In the experiment these materials were used in the following ways. A piece of Veneer wood was used as the surface to pull the object over. Placed on top of this was a rectangular wood block weighing 0.148-kg (1.45 N/ 9.80 m/s/s). A string was attached to the wood block and then a loop was made at the end of the string so a Newton scale could be attached to determine the force. The block was placed on the Veneer and drug for about 0.6 m at a constant speed to determine the force needed to pull the block at a constant speed. The force was read off of the Newton scale, this was difficult because the scale was in motion pulling the object. To increase the mass weights were placed on the top of the ...
The idea is so simple, it seems absurd. A tether is extended from the surface of the earth, and using a
Archery, a sport that dates back to centuries before today, has been modernized to become more efficient and high tech. The Egyptian made the first complex bow in 2800 BC. The bow was made from sheep intestines and the arrow was light and efficient enough to be shot from 400 yards away and still penetrate the armor used at that time. Archery was a skill set that was prized in the military, especially in Rome. However, in 16th century a new tide was turning in Europe, firearms were slowly replacing the bow and arrow as military weapons. Other parts of the world were not as fast to leave behind archery this weapon. The people of the Far East employed archery in warfare until the 19th century, while people in Central and South Africa still use it to this day for hunting and intertribal fighting. Archery, in many parts of the world today, is viewed by some as a recreational sport and by others, as a competitive sport. Due to this, the shapes of the bow and the arrow have gone through many changes since the first model of the bow and arrow.
In this term paper, I will be relating projectile motion to personal experiences, movies, TV show, and Previous knowledge.
Here, we can use the vectors to use the Pythagorean Theorem, a2 + b2 = c2, to find the speed and angle of the object, which was used in previous equations.