Last year (4th grade) my son's science fair entry was based on a trebuchet. His question was what would be the effect on the distance a projectile would be thrown with different pivot points and counter weights. This provide me the excuse to build my first simple trebuchet complete with an adjustible arm. While researching the project we ran across an university engineering department (a Kansas institution I believe) website that discusses the physics and engineering involved in this family of siege engines.
It was there that I learned about the engineering and physics reasons behind the canter counter weight and free wheeling carriage. The basic idea, as I understand it, is that the straighter that the weight falls the more of the potential energy is utilized in throwing the projectile and less is lost to changing the counter weights angular momentum to subscribe an arc. I've been hankering to build a slightly larger model utilizing these features ever since. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Create robust enterprise, web RIAs. Upgrade to ColdFusion 8 and integrate with Adobe Flex http://www.adobe.com/products/coldfusion/flex2/?sdid=RVJP Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/message.cfm/messageid:241220 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5
