Trebuchet Essay

What is a trebuchet? The question isn’t a common one, especially in today’s day-and-age due to the fact a trebuchet in the simplest of terms was a weapon used in medieval times. Many could compare it to a catapult , but the trebuchet can shoot a projectile a further distance and is far more accurate. Although the trebuchet is most commonly associated and used during the medieval times, the trebuchet’s original and most archetypical uses can be traced back to the fourth century B.C in China. China created the original trebuchet “to help with military strength and strategy” (Marsden, 2013, para. 2). Although China originated the trebuchet, it soon was adopted in other countries and made its way to Europe around five-hundred A.D. where it was mainly used by the French. This weapon was changing to become bigger, better ,and stronger constantly. For example, the archetype of the trebuchet had a group of pulling men that pulled a rope which fired the projectile. This later changed to a counterweight . Although the design of the trebuchet was changing on a constant basis, even the original itself was well-advanced for the time, pushing technology a step further. This new technology held great potential and was

superior to other weapons which is why trebuchets were typically used for the defense and the attacking of castles (sieges).

On average, there is typically six chief components that make up a trebuchet.

There is a throwing arm, a base, a sling, a counterweight, a pin and trigger, and the projectile itself. The throwing arm is what swings the sling (the contraption used to hold the projectile). The base is there primarily for foundational support and to hold everything up and together. When one pulls the pin from the trigger, it allows the counterweight (which replaced the pulling men for the traction trebuchet), which is commonly lead, to fall due to gravity. The falling counterweight is what sends the projectile flying through the air. “When the counter-weight falls, its gravitational potential energy is changed to kinetic energy in the moving projectile” (Campbell,

para.l).

A trebuchet, like a catapult, needs to have a projectile (the object being thrown/flung from it). Large rocks and boulders were the obvious projectile of choice.These projectiles were thrown with great speed and force and travel long, far distances which allowed the ones firing the projectiles to remain a safe distance away from the targeted area. The heavy projectiles which could be thrown over castle walls could maim or eliminate enemies and also cause damage to the castle itself. Other possible projectiles consisted of “sharp wooden poles and darts, fire, casks of burning tar, burning sand which became trapped in the enemy’s armor, stool, dead animals, body parts , and anything rotting” (Alchin, 2014, para. 4). While rocks and boulders are the most commonsensical projectile, some people active in war took things to new and drastic extremes. It is said that trebuchets played a part in primeval biochemical-warfare and that instead of using quintessential projectiles (such as rocks and boulders,) people flung bodies of the deceased instead. These bodies were usually infected with highly contagious and lethal diseases in hopes of spreading the infectious diseases to the enemy (such as the Bubonic Plague) to decrease the number or wipe out enemy’s troops, soldiers, supporters, livestock, and anything associated with the enemy.

The trebuchet exhibits many scientific components such as force, momentum, along with kinetic and potential energy as well. These components are evident when the trebuchet is actually working/functioning and performing the task it was designed to do (to hurl projectiles). Due to the fact that these scientific components are unmistakably apparent through the usage of the trebuchet, the apparatus is frequently utilized in physics classes to grasp full comprehension and understanding (particularly of the uses) of Newton’s laws and scientific terms such as force, momentum, kinetic and potential energy, etc.

The trebuchet demonstrates Newton’s laws of motion entirely. In order to fathom how the device exhibits Newton’s laws, one is obligated to be cognizant of what these laws actually are. Newton’s first law is generally referred to as “the law of inertia.” In the simplest of terms, this law means that an object at rest will stay at rest and that an object in motion will stay in motion “unless acted upon by an unbalanced force” (Louviere, 2006, para. 2). The second law of motion “states that when a force acts on an object, it will cause the object to accelerate and that larger the mass of the object, the greater the force will need to be to cause it to accelerate” (Helmenstine, 2014, para. 3). The second law is routinely consummated to describe and convey the consanguinity (or relationship) between force, mass, and acceleration in that “force = mass times acceleration” (Authors and Diocese of Steubenville, 2004, para. 3). Newton’s third law of motion states that “for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction” meaning for “every force there is a reaction force that is equal in size, but opposite in direction” (Louviere, 2006, para. 3).

The first law of motion, “the law of inertia,” in summary is object at rest will stay at rest and that an object in motion will stay in motion “unless acted upon by an unbalanced force” (Louviere, 2006, para. 2). The first law of motion can be amalgamated to the trebuchet in terms of the projectile (typically boulders or rocks in medieval times) that is launched from the sling of the trebuchet. Extracting the outside forces that act upon the projectile, (air resistance, friction, and gravity) the projectile would presumably remain traveling in a straight line until reaching it’s initial target. Newton’s first law of motion is also applicable when pertaining to a trebuchet primarily when one releases the trigger. Releasing the trigger allows the arm to be free to fire the projectile. Releasing the trigger in and of itself is enacting a force. Once the trigger is released, the arm plunges in the opposite direction due to the fact that the opposite side is more weighted than the side containing the projectile.

Newton’s second law in the the most condensed definition is as stated previously in that it is consummated to describe and convey the consanguinity (or relationship) between force, mass, and acceleration in that “force = mass times acceleration” (Authors and Diocese of Steubenville, 2004, para. 3). Trebuchets link hand-in-hand with the second law of motion in a dyad of ways. One, the acceleration of the device is formulated by the mass of the counterweight. Two, the net-force is constituted when the counterweight pulls down on the throwing arm, bring the end with the sling upward. In consequence to this, the projectile then goes flying towards its desired target. The second law describes the relationship between the force of the counterweight and its impacts on the throwing arm, the mass of the actual counterweight itself, and the acceleration which can be calculated by rearranging the force = mass times acceleration formula.

The third and final of Newton’s laws of motion states that “for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction” meaning for “every force there is a reaction force that is equal in size, but opposite in direction” (Louviere, 2006, para. 3). The application of the third law of motion is germane in the sense that for the counterweight, the base, the projectile, the swinging arm, and the sling all have an equal force acting in opposition to them. For example: a plunging item, in this instance the projectile, accelerates toward Earth, and Earth also accelerates toward the commodity.

Similar to everything on the planet, the trebuchet has forces acting upon it (that can be further explained through the laws of motion). The most identifiable is the force gravity has on the counterweight causing it to plunge downward causing the throwing arm to swing around and fire the projectile it carries with it. Aside from this dexterously verifiable force of friction, others are more strenuous to accredit. There is friction between things such as the base and table and even the sling and projectile. Like stated in the third law of motion, for “every force there is a reaction force that is equal in size, but opposite in direction” (Louviere, 2006, para. 3).