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MaggieWisniewski,SarahOrtiz,ForrestStull
Mrs.Sparrow
Physicsperiod5
25October2015
TrebuchetWriteup
Purpose:
Thepurposeinconstructingatrebuchetistodemonstratedifferentangles
Hypothesis:
Ifthetennisballisshotfroma45degreeangle,thenitwilltravelfurther,compared
tothe80degreeand30degreeangles.
Materials:
Oak2x4s
3inchWoodscrews
LargeNail
50PoundloadEyeHooks
6feetStiffTwine
6FeetParacord
DenimFabric
Smoothplywood
TennisBall
Holehog
Screwgun
Cornersander
Sander
1inchIronPipe
LiquidGraphite
90Poundsofweightplates
Weightplateholder
Plumbersmetaltape
Screw-onwheels




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Diagram:

Procedure:

Building:
1. Cutthe2x4sintotwo4footlength,six2footlengths,four3footlengths,andone
fivefootlength.
2. Screwtwo4footsandtwo2footsinarectanglearrangementtoformthebase.
3. Screwa3footlengthonbothsidesofthefourfootsideinthemiddle,pointing
upwards.
4. Screwontwotwofootlengthsand2fourfootlengthsonbothsides,holdingthe
baseandtheboardstickinguptogether,toformthebraces.
5. Usingtheholehog,cutaoneinchholethroughbothboardsstickingup,sothata3
footlengthofironpipecanslidethroughtoformtherotationpoint.
6. Slidethe3footpipethroughtheholesandcapbothends.
7. Usingtheholehog,drillaoneinchhole1footawayfromtheendofthe5foot2x4.
8. Drillanotherholeabout3inchesawayfromthesameend.
9. Takethetworemainingtwofootboards,anddrilloneholethrougheach2inches
fromthetop.
10. Theseholeswilllineupwiththelastholeonthe5footboard.Slidea1footmetal
pipethroughthelinedupholes,andcapbothendsofthepipe.Wewillcallthis
movingparttheWeightrotator.
11. Usingplumberstape,securelyattachtheweightplateholderontotheendofthe
weightrotator.



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12. Slidethemiddleholeinthe5footboardontothemainrotationpoint,orthreefoot
pipe.
13. This5footboardwiththeweightrotatorontheendshouldrotatefreelyandhaveno
obstructions.
14. Attachtwoeyehooksinthemiddleofthe2footboardswhichformthebase.
15. Attachoneeyehooktothe5footboardsothatwhenthelongendisrotateddown,it
linesupwiththetwoeyehooksonthebase.Slideastrongnailinbetweentheeye
hookstostopfivefootArmfromrotating.
16. Atthelongendofthearm,hammerinathicknailandremovethehead.Thiswillbe
theReleasepin.
17. Attachaneyehookontheundersideoftheendofthelongendofthearm.Thiswill
holdtheslingsstring.
18. Cutapieceofdenimthatcanfitaroundatennisball.Attacha3footpieceofstring
onbothsidesofthedenimtocreateapouch.
19. Attachonestringtothestaticeyehook,andtieaneweyehooktotheotherstring.
Thiswillthethestringthatreleases.
20. Cutthesmoothplywoodsothatitcoversthebase,andscrewthisontocreatea
surfacefortheslingtoslideacross.
21. Attach4wheelstothebaseofthemachine,sothatitcanmoveandnottearitself
apart.
22. Attachthesixfootparacordtothenailthatactivatesthereleasesystem.(Thethree
eyehooksthatlineup).
Launching:

1. Pullthearmdown,lineuptheeyehooks,andslidethereleasenailinbetweenthem
toholdthearminplace.
2. Hammerthereleasepintoananglethatwillensureaballreleaseat45degrees,this
maytakesomeexperimenting.
3. Putthetennisballintothesling,pulltheslingbackontheboard,andslidethe
eyehookthatholdthereleasestringontothereleasepin.
4. Putthe90poundsofweightplatesontotheweightholderontheweightrotator.
Securethem.
5. Standback.
6. Pullthe6footparacordtoletthearmmove.
7. Starttimingwhentheballgetsreleasedbythesling.
8. Haveapersonwatchtoseewheretheballhits,andmarkit.
9. Measurethedistancefromthefrontofthetrebuchettotheballslandingspot,in
meters.
10. Hopethatthetrebuchetdoesntbreakafter20launches.

Data:



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(Timeinseconds)
Trial1 Trial2 Trial3 Average

30 3.25 3.81 4.48 3.85

Angle 45 4.28 4.26 4.48 4.34

80 4.78 4.91 4.70 4.80

(DistanceinMeters)
Trial1 Trial2 Trial3 Average

30 48.7 53.2 37.0 46.3

Angle 45 51.2 48.7 50 50

80 13.5 19.8 7.3 13.5

CalculationsandDataAnalysis:seepage5.(Handwritten)

Conclusion:

Basedontheresultsofthislab,ourpredictionthatthetennisballwouldtravelthe
furthestat45degreeswasdisproved,astheballtraveledfurthestat30degrees,whichwas
surprising.Thiscouldvebeenaffectedbyhowtheslingreleasesatdifferentangles.For
example,at45degrees,theslingmightvereleasedtooslowlyfortheballtotravelasfaras
the30degreetrialdid.Thefastertheswingofthesling,themorevelocitytheballhasupon
release.Ourmechanismforalteringtheangleofreleasewaschangingtheangleofthe
releasepinnailthatwaspiercedintothearm,Thismechanismwasnotcompletelyreliable
aswecouldnotmeasuretheangleaccuratelyandmostlyreliedonestimates,creating
questionabledata.Trebuchetsarenotnearlyaspreciseoraccurateascatapults.Thereis
almostalwayssomevariationinfactors.Progressingthroughtheproject,therewasone
majoralterationwithdesignofthetrebuchet.Atfirst,therewasnoweightrotator,which
causedtheweighttohavetofallinacircleratherthanvertically.Verticallyfallingweight
convertstheenergyoftheweightintothemotionofthearmmuchmoreeffectively.This
changehelpedthearmtomovefaster,andthus,launchedtheballfurther.