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Miss Goodwin
Physics 9
12-15-17
Introduction
During this catapult project we were trying to see how well we could build a catapult for it to
catapult a marshmallow as far as you can. The Greek word catapult was derived from the word
katapultos. The catapult was a weapon used in the middle ages to launch large objects at enemies
during battle. I chose my design because I thought it would be easy to aim and would make the
marshmallow go the distance accurately. Although my design was accurate, it was to small to launch the
marshmallow far enough to go farther than one to two meters. The physics concepts show how gravity
can affect something and how speed and angle can affect the object being thrown. The catapult project
showed us how the angle and speed of a catapult can affect where the object being catapulted lands.
Design Plans
Materials
10 Pencils
10 Rubber bands
1 Plastic spoon
Data Analysis
The average velocity for my projectile is 5.31 for my first trial, 5.84 for my second trial, and 6.18
for trial three. I found this average by dividing the distance by the time, and added all the velocities to it,
and divided by three. I found the initial velocity by adding the x and y together and then took the square
root of that number. When you change the angle it changes how high or low the object being shot goes
and changes where the object lands. The changing angle does not change the initial velocity of the
object.
Conclusion
The catapult project was a good way to teach us about speed and acceleration and put what we
have been learning to life. During this project some things that were taught were how the angle that you
put the catapult at can greatly affect where the object lands. My catapult was a small catapult made
from pencils and rubber bands. The way that the catapult was built it was unable to shoot very far but it
was able to shoot the marshmallow accurately. The catapult project helped us learn about projectile
motion and helped us learn about what we have been learning in class and put it into a real life
situation.