Junior Scientist Trebuchet(Multicolor)

Do -It - Yourself Kit to build your own Trebuchet, is a machine used in medieval siege warfare for hurling large stones or other missiles. By lifting the trebuchet up and then leaving it you will observe that the metal ring (counterweight) along with the thread (sling) is thrown at a long distance. Fix the nut bolt (projectile) at different hole and note the observation at each time. You will come to the conclusion that the, longer the arm the more power and velocity could be created. You could also draw the conclusion that the weight of the projectile and the weight of the counterweight are almost as effective as the length of the launching arm. HOW IT WORKS The trebuchet is actually two things a lever and a sling. A lever is a simple machine that gives a mechanical advantage when given a fulcrum, or pivot point. A sling is simply a piece of cloth or looped strap in which a stone is whirled and then let fly. As a machine the trebuchet is actually a first type of lever in which one end will lift a load up just as far as the other end is pushed down. Looking at the diagram you should be able to see that the fulcrum or the pivot point is the place on the base where the arm balances. The nut and the bolt are the counter weight i.e. the large mass that hangs on short arm of the beam. In trebuchet we had also used simple sling. The sling (piece of thread) is a sack to hold the projectile until there is enough energy to launch it. The sling was able to double the power of trebuchet causing the projectile to go twice as far as it would without it. The sling achieves this with the parabolic arc which is thankful to the effect of gravity. The length of the arm decides the position of the counterweight that how far it could be thrown. The longer the arm the more power and velocity could be created.