1

JennaFusaro
OliviaGriffin
LauraLemus
RhiannonTrujillo
Mr.Hill
Physics,Period6
3February2016
TrebuchetLab
Introduction:
Purpose
Thepurposeofthislabistodemonstrateandobservetheconservationofenergyandto
examinehowenergyistransferredbetweenatrebuchetandtheprojectile.Welearnhowtobuild
atrebuchetandunderstandthemechanicsbehindthetrebuchet.Inthislabwedealwithboth
kineticandpotentialenergy.
Results
Theenergypoweringthetrebuchetsproutsfromthecounterweightfallinggoingfrom
gravitationalpotentialenergytokineticenergycausingthethrowingarmtoriseandlaunchthe
projectile.Forourexperimentwefoundthatourtotalenergywas.0282J.Wefoundthat
normallyatrebuchettransfersabout30%ofitsenergytoitsprojectile.
Background
AtrebuchetisatypeofsiegeenginemostfrequentlyusedintheMiddleAges.Itis
sometimescalledacounterweighttrebuchetorcounterpoisetrebuchet,todistinguishitfroman

earlierweaponcalledthetractiontrebuchet,wheremenpullingropesprovidedthepower.This
machinereliedongravityratherthanpullingpower,andwasabletolaunchbiggerandheavier
projectiles,suchasprojectilesweighingupto350pounds(160kg)atorintoenemy
fortifications.
Anotherdevelopmentcamewhentrebuchetswithmovableorswinging
counterweightsbegantoappear,whichcouldallowforhigherratesoffire,thoughwhenithada
fixedcounterweightcouldflingamissilefurther,thedeviceswithmovablecounterweightsthat
becamepreferable.Onthefixeddevicesthecounterweightwassometimesofonepiecewiththe
restofthemachine,whereasthemovableweightsoftheformertypeweresuspendedfromthe
swingingarm.
ThecounterweighttrebuchetappearedinbothChristianandMuslimlandsaround
theMediterraneaninthe12thcentury.Itsusecontinuedintothe15thcentury,wellafterthe
introductionofgunpowder.

Materials
Forthetrebuchetwemadethesuppliesoneneedsis:

atrebuchetkit(precutwoodensheets)waxedpaper

metalwasherssandpaper

stringscissors

claypliers

gluemetersticksformeasurements

wiresandmetalrods3.75incheslongavideotimer(weusedtheapp
Technique)

Diagramofourtrebuchet

Procedures
Forthislabwegotatrebuchetkitandstartedtoassembleitaccordingtotheinstructions.
Onceitscompletelyassembledandthegluehasdriedrunafewtestlaunchestoseehowthe
trebuchetworks.Whenwestartedtryinglaunchourprojectile(theclay)wenoticedthatthesling

keptflingingourprojectilebackwards.Tofixthisproblemweattachedthestringtotheclayand
triedtothetrebuchetoutwithitsmodifications,whichiswherewerealisedthatthestringwas
toolongbecausetheclaywasntreallylaunched,itjustsortofgotstuck,soweshortenedthe
lengthofthestringandtriedagain.Afterafewtrialswiththenewmodificationtomakesurethe
trebuchetwasfunctioningproperlywewerereadytostartrecordingandtakingdata.
Data
MassofCounterweight=.8787kg
MassofProjectile=.0045kg
Trail Max
Distance Time
#
Height (m)
(s)
(m)
( x )

Velocity Kinetic
TotalAmount
(m/s)
Energy(J) ofEnergy(J)

%ofInitial
Energy
Transferred

.24

1.16

.44

2.64

.0157

.0263

56.7

.42

.95

.59

1.61

.0058

.0244

23.9

.45

1.18

.61

1.93

.0084

.0282

29.8

.84

1.55

.82

1.89

.0080

.0451

17.7

Calculations
Fortime:2(

2dy
g )istheequationtofindthetimethattheprojectilespentintheairsincewe

didntrecordthetimewithourvideos.

2(.45)
9.81 =.61seconds

TotalEnergy:horizontalKE+verticalPE=totalE.Weusedthisequationtofindthetotalamount
ofenergythattheprojectilehad.Tofindthekineticenergyweusedtheequation K E = 12 mv2 ,or
2
1
2 (mass)(velocity) .Forthepotentialenergy,weusedtheequation P E

= mgh ,or

(mass)(gravity)(height).
( 12 (.0045)(1.93)2) + ((.0045)(9.81)(.45)) = .0282J
Velocity: vx =

dhorizontal
tinair Weusedthisequationtofindthehorizontalvelocityoftheprojectile.We

dividedthehorizontaldistancetravelledbytheprojectiledividedbythetimeitspentintheair.
vx = 1.18m
.61s vx = 1.93m/s
Percentenergytransferred:kineticenergy/totalenergyx100( KE
TE x100).Weusedthisequationto
calculatethepercentofenergythatwastransferredfromthetrebuchettotheprojectile.
(.0084/.0282)100=29.8%
Discussion
Inourlab,weranintovariousobstacles.Thefirstbeingthatgroupmembersforpersonal
reasonwereabsentduringthislabmakingitsothatnoteveryonehadthesameinformation
and/ormissedsomethingthatwassaidinclass.Oursecondobstaclewasinrecordingdata,we
neededtorecordthetimetheprojectilewasintheair,theprojectilesmaxheightandhowfarthe
projectilefell/landed.Westartedrecordingafewtrialrunstoseethebestwaytodosousingthe
appTechniqueandfoundthattoreadwheretheprojectilehit/flewacrosswehadtofocusmore
onthemetersticksonthatwereplacedtorecordmaximumheightanddistanceusingtwo
separatevideocameras,andindoingsowedidnotrealizethatwehadntrecordedthe

projectilestimeinairinalmostallthevideos.Wehadonlyrecordedthetimeforoneofour
trials,soweinsteadcalculatedthetimeforeachofthetrials.Wewereabletousethetimeswe
calculatedtofindourvelocities.Sinceweonlyusedtwocamerasandfocusmoreontheheight
anddistancewewerentabletoseethelaunchanglemakingitsothatwecouldnotcalculate
initialvelocity.Wewereonlyabletocalculatehorizontalvelocity,whichweusedtofindthe
energyoftheprojectile.Ourlastproblemwasthatwehaddifficultyfiguringouthowto
calculatebothtotalenergyandpercentageofinitialenergythatistransferred.Wewerentsureif
thepotentialenergywassupposedtoincludethemassofthecounterweight,orifwewere
supposedtousethemassoftheprojectileinthecalculations.Sincewedidnthavetheheight
thatthetrebuchetlaunchedtheprojectile,weusedthemassandmaxheightoftheprojectilefor
thecalculation.Tofindtheamountofinitialenergytransferred,wedividedthecalculatedkinetic
energybyourtotalenergyandmultipliedthatnumberbyonehundredtofindthepercentage.We
dontfeelcomfortablewiththenumberswegotforbothKineticEnergyandTotalEnergysince
theyarereallysmallnumbers,butthearedatacollectedseemsreasonable.Alloftheprojectiles
hadunderonejouleforbothkineticenergyandtotalenergy.Wefoundbylookingatourpercent
ofenergytransferredthattheamountthatourtrebuchetusuallytransferredwasaround20%to
30%.Fortwoofourtrials,theonesthatwereinbetweentheothertwo,wegot23%and29%
energytransferred.
Therearealwayspossibilityformistakestobemadeinalab,inthislabweprobably
mademistakesincalculations(especiallybecausetheoneswithenergydidntseemright),while
weighingthemassoftheprojectileandcounterweight,analysisthevideoincorrectlyorhad
somethingslightlyoffcenter/balance,allthingsthatcouldhavepossiblythrownoffourdataa

bit.Anotherreasonforourincorrectdatawasbecausewedidntknowwhattorecordandwe
forgotafewthings.
Analysis
LauraGroupDynamics:Whenwefirststartedoutworkingonthislabandassembling
thetrebuchetthegroupwasworkingwell,everyonewaspitchingin,gatheringsupplies,
separatingthepiecesofthetrebuchet.OnourthirddayofbuildingIcouldntbetherebecauseI
wassick,butthegroupwasabletofinishputtingthetrebuchettogether,dosomepracticeruns
andfixanyproblemsthatwereseenwhentheydidthepracticerunsandgotitworkingproperly.
WhenIcamebackthegroupwasreadytostartgatheringdata.Thatwaswhenwestartedtohave
abitofdifficulty,Wehadtorecordatwheretheballlandedandhowhighwasitsmaxheight
whilestillbeingabletoreadbothmeasurement.Tofixthiswehadtousetwodevicesone
focusingonthemaxheighttheotherfocusingonwhereitlanded,neglectingtocaptureboth
launchandlandinginoneshotmakingsothatwedidnttheairtimeinall,butonevideo.Tobe
honestIdontfeellikereallylearnedanythingnewintermsofworkinginagroup:itscanbe
difficultandfrustratingintermsofgettingeveryonetogethertomeetandworkonit.
OliviaGroupDynamic:Mygroupdidaverywelljobwhenitcametobuildingthe
actualtrebuchet.Besidesthemomentsofwaitingforthegluetodrywediditprettyfast.Whenit
wastestingtimewerealizedhowmuchwehatedthatstupidsling.Everytimewewouldtestitit
wouldshootbackwards,tofixthiswesimplylettheslingflywithourlittleballofclay.Wedida
fewrunstomakesureitwasworkingproperlythengotreadytorecorddata.Weusedmyphone
tovideotapeandtriedtomakeourresultsexactbyslowingthevideodown.Afterwecollected
dataLauraorganizedhelpanswerquestionswhileJennaandRhiannonworkedoutequations.

Werecentlydiscoveredasourprojectwascomingtoanend,Imessedupprettyhardwhenvideo
taping.Ididn'tcatchtheerroruntilitwastoolate.AsItriedtovideotapeinthesmallamountof
spacewehad,Ididn'tshowthetrebuchetlaunchingandlandingduringthesameshot.Therefor
theamountoftimeitspentintheairwasn'tasexactaswewould'vewantedit.Laurasetupa
GoogledocsowecanallInputourworkandcheckeachother's.IthinkifIwould'vedonebetter
videotapingandtriplecheckedwhatIrecorded,ourdatawouldbemuchmoreprecise
RhiannonOurgroupworkedwelltogether.Iwasabsentformostofthetimewespent
doingthisproject,andLaurawasabsentforadaytoo,butwewereabletokeepincontactand
communicatewell.Iwasnttheretobuildthetrebuchet,butIdidhelpmygroupwhenwewere
takingdata.Itooksomeofthevideosofthetrebuchetandworkedonthecalculationsfortime
andenergy..IwrotepartsofthediscussionandconclusionandIworkedwithLauraonthe
formallabwriteup.
JennaAsagroup,weworkedcollaborativelyandpositively.Iwasinclasshelping
recorddata,andcalculationsfortheproject.Iwasalsotheretohelpbuildthetrebuchet.We
workedfastandeachoneofustookpartinthisproject.Weusedthedirectionsinorderto
assemblethetrebuchetandwaitedforthegluetodry.Oncereadywetesteddifferentweightsin
ordertolaunchourballofclass.Aftertestingthelaunchtomakesuretheballofclassflew
forwardsandhighenoughwebegantotakeourdata.Wetookvideosandwrotedowninfoin
ordertocollectourdatabytakingmultiplevideos.I'ntheendweallsharedtheworkequallyand
workedamazingtogether.
Conclusion

Thislabissupposedtohelpusseeandunderstandtheprinciplesofphysicswehave
discussedinclassbyshowinguswheretheenergythatpoweratrebuchetcomesfrom,whattype
ofenergyitis,howenergyistransferred,andhowitcanbelost.Italsogaveusanopportunity
toseehowsubtlechangestothetrebuchetcanmakeitworkbetter,suchashavingthestringfly
withtheprojectilesoitwouldn'tflingtheprojectilebackwards.Withourdataandcalculations,
wewereabletoseeanestimateofhowmuchdataistransferredbetweenatrebuchetandits
projectile.Ourpercentenergytransferredforthetrialswere17%,23%,29,and56%,soit
appearedthatthetrebuchettransfersabouttwentyorthirtypercentofitsenergytotheprojectile
whenitlaunchesit.Whilethislabwasinterestinganddefinitelyhaditsawesomemomentsit
wasalsokindofapain.


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Workcited
"TrebuchetsA(very)BriefHistory."
NotesfromtheScriptorium
.Web.8Feb.2016.
"Trebuchet."
Wikipedia
.WikimediaFoundation.Web.8Feb.2016.