The purpose of this project was to learn the physics of trebuchets. We started by building a module trebuchet that had to pass 3-5 launches to build a big one. We had a $30 budget for what we were allowed to spend on materials we could also bring our own materials. Our final product had t fit in a 4x4 box, not including the arm. To go to the exhibition be had to pass 3-5 launches.
Use the following physics concepts to describe how to throw a
projectile as far as possible with counterweight trebuchets: energy (both kinetic and potential) velocity, acceleration and projectile motion.
In a trebuchet there are two main types of energy they are kinetic and potential energy. Kinetic energy is the energy an object due to the motion it has. Potential energy is the energy that is there in the begging of the movement. The potential energy is at the start of the motion of the object. The potential energy starts when the object goes into motion. When the trebuchet goes into motion the potential energy becomes kinetic energy through linear motion.
In a trebuchet there also velocity, acceleration and projectile motion. The velocity occurs when the arm swings and the object is released at a angle. Acceleration occurs as the arm moves in a straight line going faster or slower. The projectile motion happens when the projectile is realested from the sling or bowl.
Use the following 21st century skills to describe what it means to be a community of learners in the trebuchet project: collaboration, communication, critical thinking, and creativity.
This project for me required critical thinking. Critical thinking was required most when something didn't work out the way you wanted it to. One of the things I used critical thinking on was when the pipe that the swing arm rotates on was to small for the hole that attached it to the swing arm. To fix this I used a cardboard pipe and duck tape. I put it on the each side of the swing arm to hold in place better but not interfere with the rotation of the arm. After doing this when we test launched are trebuchet and it worked better and kept the arm from moving while still launching a good distance.
The trebuchet project also required collaboration. There were times when my group wasn't collaborating well but in the end we still managed to work together. This relates to a community of learners because in your group witch was part of your class is part of your school community of learners. Are group also learned what did and didn't work together. Sometimes had to work together to create new ideas on how to make things work again or work. That was how my group collaborated as a community of learners.
What challenged you the most during this project? How did you deal with it?
The biggest challenge that we ran into during the trebuchet project was when something broke. An example is when the PVC Pipe the swing arm was attached to was breaking due to the weight of the counter weight, later our bowl also broke. We dealt with this by first brain storming what we need to fix and or change. Second we decided to replace the PVC pipe with a mettle pipe since mettle is stronger than plastic. Then after our bowl broke we had to decide if we wanted to use another of the same bowl or get a different bowl, we got a different bowl. In the end after putting the metal pip on and new bowl are trebuchet worked better than before.
What personal strengths did you bring to your group and how did they help you?
Some personal strengths I brought to my group was thinking about how to fix things if they broke or did not work. An example of when I used this strength was when the wood broke on our frame and there was no way to drill it back together. I fixed this by using duct tape and wood glue. The glue and duct tape worked to hold out trebuchet together. This helped our group because without that piece being fixed our trebuchet probably wouldn't have worked as well as it did