Essay On Trebuchet

The engineering of a trebuchet was vastly improved over time, but was only due to our past ancestors wanting to use a trebuchet over a catapult because it is able to launch over longer distances and be more accurate. Many changes have been made to the trebuchet since the 12th century when it was first introduced by Christian’s and Muslim’s. They both used this to throw objects up to 90 kg for about 300 meters. They would use these weapons to throw heavy objects into forts and bunkers. Many armies still used these up through the 15th century, the ironic part about this is that gun powder was made and used at the beginning of the 15th century. The First trebuchet was referred to the “Traction Trebuchet”. This type of trebuchet was based around man’s strength; it would have

a man pull down on the arm of the weapon to arm it. These types of trebuchets would cause at least 15 men to pull on a rope to lower an arm down. This method would force ancient engineers to come up with a new plan of approach. The engineers came up with the idea of introducing gravity to the arm of the trebuchet. This would make it easier and more efficient during war to shoot at the enemy. The number of men on each trebuchet would be less than the first trebuchet and could be fired repeatability without wearing out. Even though the design with a counter weight was very effective, it would lead to fatigue. The engineers would then come up with the idea of having a hinge attached to the end of the arm and the counter weight. This hinge would cause less stress on the trebuchet due to the arm swinging loose at the bottom of the swing rotation. This design didn’t only help with the life of the machine, but it also helped with increasing the distance the counter weight fell. Engineers found that making the counter weight fall further; it would lead to increased rotational speed of the arm. This made in increased launch speed and impact of the object. Even though the engineers of this time kept re-vamping there original designs, they still needed supplies to fire at the enemy. These armies would use stones and would be able to throw 2,000 stones a day. Once they ran out of stones, they would start throwing sharp wooden poles, fire, dung and diseased body parts/bodies. The men that worked these machines where called gynours. They would have to build these huge machines where the spot of the battle is and sometimes needed to build them while under fire of enemy arrows and trebuchet missiles.

Even though all trebuchets were similar in design, they were all made up of different materials. Heavy lead weights or a pivoting ballast box were the counter weights on many of the medieval trebuchets. They would also use leather pouches as the sack and then build the frame and arm out of wood/trees. During the medieval times, countries new that building walls would slow down enemy troops. The only issues with this are that they would not be able to defend against the trebuchets that are throwing one ton stones. The trebuchets were able to lock in on accuracy by judging how far their max throw is and would then move it depending on need for more or less distance. The way the modern trebuchet is being used today is mostly for teaching purposes. Colleges have been using this to help students think outside the box and create new trebuchets that can throw huge missiles like a car. We have seen many new ideas and ways to make a modern trebuchet, but all of these trebuchets are based on a single blueprint that was made over 900 years ago. In conclusion, trebuchets can be dated back to the 12th century where they were used for military strategies to throw heavy

stones into kingdoms guarded by walls. They came up with new ways to make the machine last longer weather that is just making the arm stronger or adding a hinge to the counter weight. These easy little improvements made a lot of changes over time, mainly on the life time of a machine because it cut down on the stress of the machine and increases lifetime by making it able to throw nonstop for 2,000 stones. Trebuchets are an old, but very important machine to our science and math courses.