Trebuchets and Catapults
Trebuchets and catapults have a significant impact in history. In the past, people such as the Arabs, Romans, and Greeks used them in war all the way up till the Medieval Era. In fact, these machines may have been major turning points towards winning certain wars. The creativity of people at that time ultimately made them the inventors of a new technology that would clear the way for more improvements. However, trebuchets and catapults were built for separate purposes. Although they have some similarities and the concepts are similar, they both have major differences as well. In the past, there were many various complex machines before trebuchets. However, they did not have the accuracy and precision that trebuchets …show more content…
What causes the projectile to launch at very far distances? There are multiple aspects which make the object launch at a far distance and at a great speed. In fact, trebuchets are very similar to seesaws. For the arm to swing forward, there is a weight attached at the shorter end of the arm called a “counterweight”. This counterweight acts as the force to propel the weight attached at the long end of the trebuchet. Hence, when the counterweight is being pulled up, the arm stores gravitational potential energy because of the height at which the short end of the arm is. Then when the projectile is fired, the counterweight is pulled down and the gravitational potential energy converts to kinetic energy. In addition, if there are wheels attached the trebuchet, the wheels will add energy because as the counterweight falls, the trebuchet will move with the force of the arm; therefore, resulting in a more vertical counterweight …show more content…
“Kata” means downward and “pultos” is a small shield. When combined, “Katapultos” means “shield piercer” (Catapults). The word “Catapult” is a rather vague and general term for any machine which overhauls an object. Like trebuchets, catapults are ammunition overhauling machines that caused great destruction throughout history. They were first assembled and designed by the Chinese, Greeks, and Romans. The designs of catapults made leeway for improvements, which is what the French did in 1216 when they were voyaging on English land. Catapult designs have been improved throughout history and have been applied to many wars. All previous catapult designs have made these machines very hard to operate, as they required “torsion power by way of twisted rope or sinew” (Trebuchet Physics). In addition, they were very cumbersome and because of their “fixed power” (Trebuchet Physics), the range had to be adjusted by disassembling the whole machine. This is because most catapults work using built up tension force. Meanwhile, the range of trebuchets could simply be adjusted by adding or subtracting as much counterweight as necessary. As aforementioned, one of the various catapults is the “trebuchet” and this machine became improved through adding a counterweight and fulcrum; therefore, requiring much less manpower to throw objects. There are also other catapult designs that are similar in concept to the trebuchet
Trebuchets and catapults have a significant impact in history. In the past, people such as the Arabs, Romans, and Greeks used them in war all the way up till the Medieval Era. In fact, these machines may have been major turning points towards winning certain wars. The creativity of people at that time ultimately made them the inventors of a new technology that would clear the way for more improvements. However, trebuchets and catapults were built for separate purposes. Although they have some similarities and the concepts are similar, they both have major differences as well. In the past, there were many various complex machines before trebuchets. However, they did not have the accuracy and precision that trebuchets …show more content…
What causes the projectile to launch at very far distances? There are multiple aspects which make the object launch at a far distance and at a great speed. In fact, trebuchets are very similar to seesaws. For the arm to swing forward, there is a weight attached at the shorter end of the arm called a “counterweight”. This counterweight acts as the force to propel the weight attached at the long end of the trebuchet. Hence, when the counterweight is being pulled up, the arm stores gravitational potential energy because of the height at which the short end of the arm is. Then when the projectile is fired, the counterweight is pulled down and the gravitational potential energy converts to kinetic energy. In addition, if there are wheels attached the trebuchet, the wheels will add energy because as the counterweight falls, the trebuchet will move with the force of the arm; therefore, resulting in a more vertical counterweight …show more content…
“Kata” means downward and “pultos” is a small shield. When combined, “Katapultos” means “shield piercer” (Catapults). The word “Catapult” is a rather vague and general term for any machine which overhauls an object. Like trebuchets, catapults are ammunition overhauling machines that caused great destruction throughout history. They were first assembled and designed by the Chinese, Greeks, and Romans. The designs of catapults made leeway for improvements, which is what the French did in 1216 when they were voyaging on English land. Catapult designs have been improved throughout history and have been applied to many wars. All previous catapult designs have made these machines very hard to operate, as they required “torsion power by way of twisted rope or sinew” (Trebuchet Physics). In addition, they were very cumbersome and because of their “fixed power” (Trebuchet Physics), the range had to be adjusted by disassembling the whole machine. This is because most catapults work using built up tension force. Meanwhile, the range of trebuchets could simply be adjusted by adding or subtracting as much counterweight as necessary. As aforementioned, one of the various catapults is the “trebuchet” and this machine became improved through adding a counterweight and fulcrum; therefore, requiring much less manpower to throw objects. There are also other catapult designs that are similar in concept to the trebuchet