Emma Rice

Mr. Williams

STEM, Period 6/7

November 8, 2017

Proof of Efficacy Doc.

About

For this project, my group and I built a functioning trebuchet that could launch a clay

projectile as far as possible. Our design for our project was very basic and simple, but

the results spoke for themselves. It consisted of a base, 3 rubber bands, a spring, an

arm, an axle, a nail at the end of our arm, a hook for holding the spring, and two legs.

The measurements for our machine were as follows

Length of Base= 48 cm and Width of Base= 18.2 cm

Arm Length= 53.3 cm and the Arm Width= 4 cm
Leg Length= 30 cm and Leg Width= 8.5 cm
Axle Diameter= 1.2 cm
Axle Total Length= 14 cm
Nail Length= 2 cm
 Hook Length= 4cm
Hook Length= 2 cm
Rubber Band Length (starting)= 8 cm
Spring Length (starting)= 10 cm

Calculations

Horizontal Distance= 46m, the horizontal distance was the amount of meters that the

projectile traveled before landing

Mass of Projectile= 0.162 kg, this mass was found after we weighed and converted our

final projectile

Angle of Release= 35 degrees, this was found using a protractor after my group and I

shot a slow motion video of our projectile leaving the hook it rested on.

Time in Air= 2.2 sec., it took the projectile 2.2 seconds exactly to land at 46m and we

timed this with a stopwatch

Horizontal Velocity= 20.9 m/s, the horizontal velocity was found using the equation

velocity equals distance divided by time v=d/t (v= 46m/2.2s)

Vertical Velocity= 21.56 m/s, the vertical velocity was found using the equation

velocity equals acceleration multiplied by time v=at (v=9.8m/s^2(2.2s))

Total Velocity= 30.02 m/s, to find the total velocity my group and I used the

pythagorion of a^2+b^2=c^2 and used our vertical velocity and our horizontal velocity as

the a^2 and b^2 to find c^2; which was 30.02 m/s

Vertical Distance= 23.716 m, to find vertical distance we used the equation distance

equals one half multiplied by acceleration multiplied by time squared or d= at^2

KE Ball= 7.209 J, the kinetic energy of the of our ball was found using the equation

kinetic energy equals one half multiplied by mass multiplied by velocity squared or

KE= mv^2

PE spring= 27.56 J, the potential energy of the spring was found using the equation

one half multiplied by the spring constant multiplied by x (distanced stretched)^2 or

PE=KX^2

Spring Constant= 122.5 N/m, to find the spring constant first we needed to find the

force which is F=ma, then using the force found the constant of the spring using the

formula K=F/d for both our spring and rubber bands the added them both together for

our final answer

KE to PE Transferred= 26% converted, using the equation kinetic energy divided by

potential energy or KE/PE we found our percentage transferred

Modifications

Before my group and I presented our final product there were a few modifications that

we made to our trebuchet.

1. Spring vs Rubber bands = both We made this modification using both a spring

and rubber band, because since we already had a spring the thought of using

both rubber bands and springs was interesting. Using the rubber bands we could

have the potential energy from the rubber bands that leads to kinetic energy so

more kinetic energy will lead to more velocity.

2. Amount of Rubber bands = 3 When my group and I made this modification the

three rubber bands added more resistance to our strong metal spring. Before

using the rubber bands our trebuchet only reached a maximum distance of 32
 meters. After adding the rubber bands the resistance added to the projectiles

launch force, acceleration, and and then our distances consistently ranged from

37 meters to 50 meters.

3. Projectile String Length = 8 inches The projectile string length was an important

modification, because it determined how efficiently the projectile would be

released from the nail holder. In our data in the clear paragraph my group and I

found that from all of our lengths tested 8 inches was the most consistent and

went the farthest. There is also a graph included with my paragraph which shows

all of our findings, and 8 inches was the most successful. To our understanding

this was because the time stays the same, but the distance changes and that

gives the projectile more velocity.

String length 5 in=16m 6 7 in=20.3m 8 in= 9 in=13m

averages in=18.3m 22m
Trial 3
String Lengths Trial 1 Trial 2

5 inches 17m 16m 15m

6 inches 18m 19m 18m

7 inches 19m 22m 20m

8 inches 21m 22m 23m

9 inches 9m 15m 14m

4. Arm Ratio = 2:1 ( load:effort) This modification helped us because we now had

more distance on our arm on the outside and the time it took us to pull back the
 spring/ rubber bands stayed the same. Since v= d/t it made our projectile go

faster because we had more distance.

5. Stopper Location = none This modification came after my group and I discovered

that when we had a stopper in our original position, it kept the arm from

extending to its full potential. It created an odd angle that made our projectile not

launch very far. Since getting rid of the stopper location all together, our arm was

able to have a longer time to build momentum and lead to the projectile having

more velocity.

6. Stopper vs No Stopper = none Having a stopper made no difference to my group

and I for our trebuchet , since our projectile was launched off of the hook we had

before it hit our stopper. So not having a stopper only stopped our arm after our

projectile had gone off, so it had no purpose.

7. Projectile Mass = 16.25 g ( 0.016 kg) This modification was made because my

group and I wanted to find out if changing our projectile mass if we could produce

more force for the projectile to travel. When we made this modification we made

our new distances increased and we reached our farthest distance of 50 meters.

8. Hard Projectile We made this modifications so our string would not rip through

the projectile, and that would lead to the projectile continuing farther with more

force since it had a larger/ more dense mass. To complete this my group and I

changed the mass from 0.155 kg to the new mass of 0.162 kg and iced the clay

in a cup for about 2 minutes in between each of our launches. After icing the

projectile, and thus making it harder, it launched consistently each time between
 43 meters to 50 meters. In conclusion this modification was a success, and

proved that it worked consistently.

Clear Paraharph

CLEAR

The most successful string length to launch your projectile is eight inches. My group and

I built a trebuchet out of four pieces of wood with two pieces being the arms, one used for the

arm, and another for the base. We also added an axle around an inch and a half from the top of

both arms. Another piece to our trebuchet was that we had a hook that held our spring in place

and also holds the rubber bands in place on one side, and on the other side we have another

hook that we represented with a screw so our string could be secured until we launched the

machine. During our trials we tested different lengths of string, but kept all other aspects of our

trials the exact same. The lengths we used were five inches, six inches, seven inches, eight

inches, and nine inches; five inches traveled 16m, six inches traveled 18m, seven inches traveled

20m, eight inches traveled 22m, and nine inches traveled 13m (this is based off of each string

lengths average). This data shows that eight inches went the farthest distance, measuring by

meters, during this experiment which was 22 meters in average as compared to the others. The

reasoning behind this data and conclusion is because the time stays the same, but distance is still

affected by the length of the string. This leads to a change in velocity which is change in distance

over change in time. All in all, my group found that the most successful string length for

launching a projectile was eight inches.

String length 5 in=16m 6 7 in=20.3m 8 in= 9 in=13m

averages in=18.3m 22m
Trial 3
String Lengths Trial 1 Trial 2

5 inches 17m 16m 15m

6 inches 18m 19m 18m

7 inches 19m 22m 20m

8 inches 21m 22m 23m

9 inches 9m 15m 14m

Key Features

Very simple and basic design so it is easy for people to use and launch

It has consistent results

Can be launched up to 50 meters

It has a durable/sturdy spring