Trebuchet Research Paper

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History: The Trebuchet was a basic piece of siege artillery used in the middle ages. This device was known even as far back as the Romans. The only purpose of this medieval trebuchet was used to hurl heavy stones to smash castle walls. The trebuchet was a heavy frame on which a short beam and a long beam was poised with a pivot in the middle. There is a sling on the long end of the beam where the projectile was placed. Most historians believe that the trebuchet was invented directly by the French. Others believe it was built by the Chinese long before Christ. The trebuchet operates by pulling the long beam down than releasing it which would release the projectile. The Trebuchet reached Europe during the early Middle Ages was used broadly used…show more content…
This makes the heavy counterweight go down faster after the long end of the beam is released and the projectile reaches a higher velocity. The projectile is launched when a specific angle is reached. The projectile rests on a sling which are impressive energy transfer mechanisms. The kinetic energy of the projectile in motion is gained from the elastic potential energy of the stretched rubber sling as well as gravitational potential energy. Construction: People who made trebuchets can teach us all the physics behind it. Trebuchets were used during siege warfare. Now they are a great way to learn about projectile motion, angular velocity, centripetal acceleration, forces, laws of conservation of energy etc. We can learn about a great deal of physics concepts from this medieval war machine. Building a trebuchet can be tricky. The length of the each beam compared to the other, the masses of the weights and the angle are usually the tricky parts. People need to consider these when they're making a trebuchet. Some tips in building trebuchets are listed below: * If the counterweight moves a short distance than the projectile end, the projectile end will achieve a greater

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