The goal of this project was to make a trebuchet to launch a projectile the farthest distance possible.
Our design was a 2 by 4 as a base, and two 1 by 4s screwed to the base to act as arms to hold the axle or fulcrum. We started out by having our design being powered by weights. We quickly changed this and decided to go for a rubber band powered launcher. We then did a series of experiments to see which ball weight was better.
The ball will go the furthest if it weighs 10 grams and will go a shorter distance the further the weight is from 10 grams. We were testing what the best weight for the projectile to get the furthest distance was. I n the first test that we did, the 5g ball went 30 meters, the 10g went 36.5 meters, the 15g bal went 24 meters, and the 20g ball went 29.5 meters. This means that the 10g ball went an average of almost 10 more meters than the rest of the balls. The next test we did the 5g ball went 25.3 meters, 10g went 33 meters, 15g went 32 meters, and 20g went 27.5 meters. This proves that the 10g ball consistently goes farther than the other balls. It also proves that the farther that you get from 10g the less distance it covers.
Because our 10g ball was released at a 20 degree angle, it had a horizontal velocity of 18.9 m/s and a vertical velocity of 15.3 m/s. This resulted in the projectile to stay in the air for 3.13 seconds. These factors combined together made the ball travel a total of 58 meters. Our machine was powered by
Our design was a 2 by 4 as a base, and two 1 by 4s screwed to the base to act as arms to hold the axle or fulcrum. We started out by having our design being powered by weights. We quickly changed this and decided to go for a rubber band powered launcher. We then did a series of experiments to see which ball weight was better.
The ball will go the furthest if it weighs 10 grams and will go a shorter distance the further the weight is from 10 grams. We were testing what the best weight for the projectile to get the furthest distance was. I n the first test that we did, the 5g ball went 30 meters, the 10g went 36.5 meters, the 15g bal went 24 meters, and the 20g ball went 29.5 meters. This means that the 10g ball went an average of almost 10 more meters than the rest of the balls. The next test we did the 5g ball went 25.3 meters, 10g went 33 meters, 15g went 32 meters, and 20g went 27.5 meters. This proves that the 10g ball consistently goes farther than the other balls. It also proves that the farther that you get from 10g the less distance it covers.
Because our 10g ball was released at a 20 degree angle, it had a horizontal velocity of 18.9 m/s and a vertical velocity of 15.3 m/s. This resulted in the projectile to stay in the air for 3.13 seconds. These factors combined together made the ball travel a total of 58 meters. Our machine was powered by