Posts 3: Performance Day

Post 3:
The theoretical range of our trebuchet was calculated using: 2h(M/m) Our theoretical range was 331.07 meters.
Five reasons why our trebuchet didn't achieve the theoretical range:
1. Friction between the moving parts of the trebuchet
2. Air resistance
3. Wind
4. Warped bar that the arm rotated on
5. Bad release from the pouch

Post 4:
Our trebuchet didn't perform up to our expectations on distance competition day. It started off strong but with each shot went a shorter distance. It started off shooting over 40 meters but by the end it was shooting under 25 meters. It had never given us any trouble before so we fiddled around with the weight and the angle of release and got it shooting mostly over 25 meters. Our average out of five shots was 27.85 meters.

For the accuracy part of the competition we plan to take out all the weights from our bucket. That will reduce the weight from 14.97 kg to 3.63kg. We also didn't pull the arm down as far- reducing the distance that the counterweight has to fall and slowing down the release. The rest of the tebuchet will stay the same.

Our trebuchet set and ready to shoot for distance.

Janelle and I and our trebuchet on competition day. Picture compliments of Mr. Bertram.