History of the Catapult

Catapults, though usually associated with the middle ages have been around a great deal longer than most believe, originating in the 8th – 7th c. BC as a defense mechanism to protect the walls of Jerusalem. Used by the Greeks, Romans and Chinese, the catapult stemmed from the crossbow, originally just a larger and more powerful form of the weapon. But what exactly is a catapult? Catapult is defined as a machine that stores energy then quickly releases the energy to fire a projectile and its history as we know it, begins in Europe in the middle ages. Catapults, common in medieval times were one of the most useful weapons in breaking into enemy walls or fortresses and are mainly distributed into three groupings: 

Ballista: Ballista catapults were the first to use the torsion spring and looked very similar to crossbows. They were great weapons and a large ballista could launch an imposing javelin weighing up to 10 pounds!

Trebuchet  - The Trebuchet uses energy of a raised counterweight to throw a projectile. Powered by gravity, it is a larger catapult that could fire projectiles weighing up to 350 pounds! 

Mangonel- Mangonels fired heavy projectiles from a bowl-shaped bucket at the end of its arm. The Mangonel was used for aiming various missiles at castles or forts. Also could throw missiles further than a Trebuchet. 

Mousetrap, tape, spoon: The Premium Ping Pong Catapult

Catapults have long been used for launching objects of all shapes and sizes, usually in attempt to destroy enemy lines before more advanced technology came to replace it, but look no further, the ping pong ball catapult that we have all been waiting for has arrived. Constructed of merely a mousetrap, tape, and a plastic spoon, my catapult can launch ping pong balls 15 feet or further and can be made in less than 10 minutes. Guidelines for catapult construction:

1) First, unscrew or ply out any metal on the mousetrap such as a holding bar or catch so that only the spring and platform are left.

2) Next, tape the platform of the mousetrap to a sturdy surface with layers of tape streaming across the top and bottom of the platform, so it is held in place.

3) Next take your spoon (plastic or metal) and attach it to the hammer of the mousetrap by applying 4 layers of tape around the top, middle, and bottom of the hammer.

See diagram-

4) Spoon should point downwards so when turned over it looks like the above picture.

5) Next cut a Ping-Pong ball in half and tape it to your spoon.                              

    6) Catapult is now fully functional, place Ping-Pong ball on the spoon and launch away.

Challenges in construction process: 

At first, many obstacles were catapulted my way when my first construction began. I knew I had to tape down the base but continuously the catapult would flip and send the ball either straight into the air, or backwards which caused me to readjust my model. Originally it had been unsuccessful so I began with an entirely different construction. After trial and error I realized I needed to tape around the hammer in order for the spoon to be sturdy enough, so after thoroughly taping the spoon, my next obstacle arose. The spoon broke various times while first catapulting, and after two had become useless, I added half of a Ping-Pong ball to the spoon base in order for the ball to be held in place and to add durability to the spoon. Finally, after suffering another broken spoon the catapult began to fire ping pong balls with ease, that is until I had shot around 20 balls and it began to reduce shooting range which was fixed by making extra models as the springs of the mousetraps began to wear. 

Final product is displayed below. 

Expectations

Honors Freshman Physics has been an ongoing back and forth of thoughts on what the class might bring in terms of challenges and material but at least at the moment, I am excited and ready to take on the challenge of the class. At first, I believed the class would not be as challenging as fellow peers made it out to be, but that was before I had heard anything about what it would be like. I have always excelled in science and math so I felt the class would not be anything I could not handle. The first day of class I will admit I was slightly overwhelmed. The fast pace and unfamiliar idea of actually "thinking" in a class was a lot to take in but, as the first week of school has just concluded, my conclusion of what the class will bring for the rest of the year changed. I believe it will be something that will definitely challenge me and push me to work hard, yet something I am capable of excelling and performing well at. In the midst of all the math and theory that was introduced throughout the first week of the class, I stumbled upon something that I believe can get you to be successful in anything you do, passion. Similarly to when I first played basketball or soccer and had a keen desire to constantly go outside and kick a ball around or shoot at a basket, it was passion that drove me to be successful in those sports and I believe it will be passion and interest in physics that will help me succeed throughout the year. I found that physics is already one of my favorite classes and that though it may through some obstacles my way through the year, I will overcome the hurdles and it will end up helping me though it may be challenging at first. All in all, I do expect many challenges, some successes and I can be sure already it will be the most interesting class I take as a freshman.