Trebuchet Challenge Competition Reflection

Our trebuchet performed very well in the accuracy part of the challenge! Our best hurl of the tennis ball landed 0.620 m from the center of the hula hoop- we were thrilled with these results! As a result of our success, we were awarded 2nd place in the accuracy competition and received 9/10 points!

Our loaded trebuchet for the accuracy competition- ready to fire!

If I had the opportunity to modify our current trebuchet, I would make it better suited for the accuracy competition. Although our bungee cords worked well in the accuracy competition, I feel that adjusting the counterweight mass may have been a better and more precise way to control the distance the tennis ball flew. The bungee cords reduced the speed at which the arm fell, reducing the velocity with which the ball was released. I feel that if we had adjusted the weight, we would have been able to more accurately adjust the range (through using different masses of weights) that our tennis ball flew.

I feel that our overall design of the trebuchet was quite excellent. If we were to create a completely new trebuchet, I think we may have used a slightly larger counterweight, which would have hopefully caused the tennis ball to fly further, improving our distance competition results.

Toward the end of the distance competition, the sewing on our pouch became loose. I feel that if we had reinforced the sewing on the pouch that the trebuchet may have performed better. Also, we could have tweaked the angle of release slightly by adjusting our nail. We did not adjust the nail however, because we felt that we had a good angle of release and chose not to alter something that had worked consistently well for us.

Competition Day Reflection

Our trebuchet had great results in the distance part of the competition. Our trebuchet had the greatest distance results! It had an average distance of 51.22 m. Our greatest distance achieved was 52.11 m.! We were very pleased with the results.

To make our trebuchet meet the challenges posed by the accuracy component of the competition we are going to shorten our trebuchet throwing arm and add bungee cords to the design. The bungee cords with slow down the fall of the counterweight, which will shorten the distance thrown. We are also going to reinforce the pouch to make it more durable for further trials.

Theoretical Range and Competition Day

Range = 2 x h x (M/m)
Range = 2 x 33 cm x (22.6796 kg / 0.057 kg)
Range = 26260.59 cm
Range = 262.6 m

Average distance= (51.69m + 50.99m + 42.11m + 50.29m + 51.00m) / 5
Average distance= 51.22 m

Difference between Range and Average distance= 262.6m - 51.22m
Difference between Range and Average distance= 211.38m

Five reasons that kept us from achieving the performance suggested by the theoretical range:

1. Release Angle: The release angle of our trebuchet although close to 45 degrees, was not precisely 45 degrees. As a result our distance was not totally optimized by the design of our trebuchet.

2. Air resistance: Air resistance is completely ignored within the theoretical range of the trebuchet. Air resistance however had enormous effects on the flight of our tennis ball.Air resistance opposed the motion of the ball while in flight.

3. Release Mechanism Issues: Our pouch and release mechanism was not perfected. As a result the theoretical range of the trebuchet was not realized due to issues with release point and mechanism. The pouch was not perfected. There were issues with the ball being release at exactly the right point in time.

4. Friction: There was friction that existed between the mechanical parts of the trebuchet. These values were ignored in the calculations of the range. The friction would have hindered the results of the trebuchet.

5. Air resistance of the tennis ball: A tennis ball was not the ideal object to be thrown by a trebuchet. The textured edges of the tennis ball created excess air resistance between the tennis ball fuzz and the air.

Our trebuchet loaded and ready to go for the distance competition on competition day!

Trebuchet Challenge Test Day

Our trebuchet challenge test day was very successful! Our trebuchet had many successful trials. Our best trial achieved a distance of 60 m! We were very pleased. A probable factor that aided our success was having a strong wind at our backs which helped our tennis ball fly very far. Hopefully we have the wind on our side on challenge day!

On test day, we had not made adjustments to alter our trebuchet for the accuracy competition. However, thoughout the week we worked on our trebuchet and came up with a system that reduced the distance that the trebuchet hurled the ball by decreasing the speed and the distance with which the counterweight fell.

Throughout the process of making our trebuchet, we had to remake a pouch. Our pouch design, though simple, works very well. It is made of lightweight cotton, and ribbon. Hopefully it is durable enough to last for test day!

Below is a video of our trebuchet in action!

Our trebuchet on test day!

Trebuchet Challenge Project Post #1

Creating our paper trebuchet was fun and a true learning experience! We created our trebuchet, at it successfully achieved both the distance and accuracy requirements.

Creating the paper trebuchet was relatively easy. There was some slight frustration with the cutting and folding at the start. It was somewhat difficult to know which lines to cut, which lines to fold up, and which lines to fold down. It was also relatively difficult to create an appropriate pouch. It was difficult to create a pouch that held the ball tight enough so that it would not fall out, but not too tight as to prevent the ball from being released.

Air resistance was relatively minimal in operating our paper trebuchet. Air resistance was hard to recognize and did not have a recognizable effect on the flight of our ball. We can, however, know that there was air resistance present.

Gravity played a huge role in our operating our trebuchet. We had to work with gravity to create a trebuchet that released the ball at a point that would created optimal results in both distance and accuracy.

The angle of release on our trebuchet was 45 degrees. This truly optimized the distance our trebuchet hurled the ball. When the angle of release is 45 degrees, a specific relationship exists between the x and y components that shows optimal results in hurling distance.

The counterweight we used for the distance competition was very large. We used approximately 40 individual weights to optimize our distance. When we were concerned with accuracy, we decreased the number of weights weights to 25 weight, which reduced the distance that the ball would go, without compromising the angle of release.

The trebuchet and myself!

Spring Break Physics

Over spring break, I went to Europe! I encountered numerous applications of physics throughout my trip. One application was the airplane that we took to fly to Paris. An unbelievable amount of work was done in the plane's flight. The tires of the plane encountered friction with the runway as it gained velocity in order to take flight. The plane's engines worked hard in order to help the plane achieve a velocity of approximately 600 mph. The plane while in the air had to maintain velocity and create a force great enough to oppose the force of gravity acting on the massive aircraft.There was a massive force opposing the force of gravity, enabling the plane to fly at an extremely high altitude. Also, while in flight and taking off, the plane encountered air resistance. The plane was designed in a streamline matter to keep the air resistance to a minimum.

Nuclear Physics Challenge Project

My team is doing our Nuclear Physics Challenge Project on Radiation Therapy.


I will complete the report, with Luke and Ellisha adding their ideas into the report. We all helped proofread and make appropriate adjustments to make the report more powerful.

Ellisha is finding the important points within our report to make the fact sheet, which will highlight the main points demonstrated within both our report and PowerPoint.

Luke will create the PowerPoint, with help from Ellisha and myself. The PowerPoint will be based on the report we created on Radiation therapy. We will discuss together the specific information that we wish to include in our PowerPoint, and will discuss the specific visuals and videos that will be included as well.

Our demonstration/activity will be a collaborative effort, with all of our ideas being considered in creating a powerful and appropriate demonstration. We will all participate in the presentation.