High-Distance Torsion

Background: In this project, which required communication,

Catapult Design Project
Data: We ended up earning a total of 32 points from our
hard work and trial and error, the domains of argument from catapult launch day. Our first launch travelled 17 meters
Kai Pfeuffer, Milo Harris, Evan Darling, Preston
evidence, engineering solutions to problems and identifying and earning us 10 points. Our second launch travelled 18
transcribing appropriate physics equations as they apply to a Olander
meter earning us 10 points. Our last launch travelled
given situation were completed. They were completed when we Washington Latin Public Charter School
about 23 meters earning us 12 points.
argued about the best angle to fire our catapult at based on 5200 2nd St NW, Washington, DC 20011
previous attempts at firing at different angles, when we
engineered a torsion catapult that would consistently fire past 10
Design Process:
meters, and when we used the range equation to find the initial
velocity we would need in order to reach 10 meters an 20 meters
consistently at different angles.
Research objective: The objective of this project was to
engineer a catapult that, when launched, would fire a tennis ball
farther than 10 meters.
Materials:

Conclusion:
● Our group not only met our goal, but exceeded our
Figure 3: A chop saw Figure 4: Screwdriver goal, given that our goal was to achieve a constant 10
was used to cut and and pressurized nail gun meter launch and we managed to achieve 17,18 and 23
prepare wood for used to attach pieces of meters
● Based on the result we can confidently say that our
assembly. wood.
design process and end result were valid, However our
process was inefficient and took too long. Nevertheless
our catapult managed to fire far and accurately.
Design: ● Our design changed in a few significant ways from the
original design. First, we change the measurements of
the wood based on what looked like it would work. We
also made the arm a 0.5 by 4 instead of a 2 by 4 so that
the arm would be lighter and would require less force
to spin around. Lastly, we moved the axis above the
stopping mechanism so that the arm would have more
rotation meaning more time to pick up speed.
Acknogledgements and References:
We would like to thank the parents of Preston Olander, Brad
& Jill Olander, for housing our engineering project, offering
engineering advice and supervision and providing materials
Figure 5: Rope weaved Figure 6: Fully
Figure 1: Front and Figure 2: Original and equipment. Our knowledge of torsion catapults was
through wood to assembled catapult after inspired by the following reference: epicfantasy. (2009, May
side views of triggering mechanism
assemble torsion 20+ hours of work. 1). How to wrap the rope on a Torsion Catapult (Mangonel)
original design and wood [Video]. YouTube.
mechanism.
blueprint measurements https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRSBKm1encM