The teacher encouraged that we go to forums for help. I did attempt at free body diagrams for the trebuchet and every time I tried my teacher said I was wrong. He also said it was very complicated, past my grade level. His words were that the internet is a valuable resource and I should use it...
That to me is very hard to understand... Do you or anyone else know the basic forces that act on a trebuchet and in which direction in the system? i.e. force of gravity, force of friction, force of air resistance etc. I just need a simplistic (but not too simplistic) version to show to my class...
What would the Free Body Diagram of a Trebuchet look like (FOR THE SYSTEM)? Would it be comparable to a see saw/ teeter totter? I am aware of some of the forces at play, but I feel there is some I am missing.
Oh alright, what do you mean by well reproducible? And also what l lines were you referring to? I'm sorry if this is a dumb question. I'm just a bit confused...
Okay good to know. You have lead me to another question. Why was the trebuchet better at launching projectiles farther and what made it more accurate? That to me is confusing since I feel the sling would be unpredictable than the bucket of a torsion catapult. Also do you know what forces are at...
Oh that makes sense. Wouldn't the swing arm's characteristic of being longer on the one side be a reason for more energy efficiency? And also wouldn't the torsion catapult lose more energy from being stopped later in the swing (where the beam [not sure what is called] catches the arm)?
I see. Does anyone know exactly what forces occur in the two that allow them to work? I also am more interested in not necessarily the structure of them, but why a trebuchet is mechanically more energy efficient? Like how does its structure cause it to send a huge payload so far vs. the less...
I would like to know what makes a trebuchet better than a torsion catapult. I know that a trebuchet is more accurate and energy efficient but I am confused on why this is. I would be very interested to know all the details involved in both medieval devices.