Catapults: a History

In response to the use of castles and fortresses, siege weapons were created. Siege weapons ranged from short range weapons such as the battering ram to longer range ones like the trebuchet or the ballista. The battering ram was usually a big shed with an armored roof and wheels to protect the men inside operating a thick beam with an iron head hung from the roof that was swung into enemy walls to bring them down. The siege tower, a wheeled tower filled with men that would be used to get over the walls, also saw its use during this time. The trebuchet was used for longer range, the missiles launched by the trebuchet ranged from using dead bodies of animals or people to spread disease, a primitive example of biological warfare, to using large boulders to take down fortress walls. In response

With the discovery of gunpowder came the invention of the fire arrow with gunpowder on its tip in the year 989 A.D. (Movement of gunpowder). By the 11th century, explosive bombs filled with gunpowder and fired catapults were introduced and used in China (Gun and gunpowder). Approximately eleven years after the arrow, the Chinese invented the flamethrower (Movement of gunpowder). It soon spread across Europe through trading. Ottoman turks used gunpowder to make their own cannons (Whipps).

Medieval society, in spite of its stereotypes, was not inherently more violent than modern society. “Although there was no state in the modern sense, and therefore no set of laws that inherently took away the power of the average man or woman to exercise violence, the violence of the day was considered differently, and with out the inherent sense of criminality that accompanies it today. Our understanding of the weapons of the medieval world is skewed by the vast disarming of the “the civilian” that is taken for granted today, yet is a vastly different situation compared to what existed in many parts of “the West” as little as seven years ago.

The way a Trebuchet works is that a counter weight drops which pulls the arm forward and at the point of takeoff a pin releases the object that is being projected. The counterweight drops using gravity and is attached to the arm causing it to fly up and launch the object. Engineers have had previous experience in this field because of the world wide trebuchet launching competitions. One example of engineers making this trebuchet are the engineers from team NASAW in the Pumpkin Chunkin ' competition. Team NASAW has a trebuchet with a heavy weight and a long arm. There arm and weight start next to each other at the beginning. The weight drops forward and like a whip the arm swings around and fires the pumpkin into the air at insane speeds. They are one of the top competitors in the competition and have proven countless times that the design works wonderfully.

Ensuring the right size of sling is used for the individual and for the hoist.

Another result of technological progression was the matchlock, which would shoot with ignition of a lit match. "The introduction of firearms into the Elizabethan Weapons Arsenal saw the end of castle warfare and the building of the magnificent Medieval castles"(Alchin 1). With the invention of lethal, quick cannons came the decline of forts for defense as soldiers prepared for battle. Cannons were made of bronze and iron, in many different sizes, and they fired stone or iron, to be used on land or

A Trebuchet is a weapon used during the medieval ages in siege warfare. The trebuchet was used for the defense of towns, strongholds, and cities. First the materials used to build medieval trebuchets. Second the origins of trebuchets. Third how trebuchets were transported.

Many various muskets were used as well as cannons. They would have a fixed blade like a spear point on the end of the musket that is called a bayonet. They would use it like a spear

There are 3 Laws of Motion developed by Isaac Newton in 1687, in his book “Mathematics Principles of National Philosophy”(Hall,Nancy).Newtons first law of motion says that an object will stay at rest until a external force is applied. Also know as inertia(Hall, Nancy). Gravity affects it buy pulling the counter weight down which pulls the the opposite side which has the sling and projectile up launching the projectile(Saimre tanol). For gravity to be most effective the counter weight must be at least five times heavier than projectile(Saimre tanol). Centripetal force is a big factor in calculating trebuchet factors. the definition of centripetal force is a force that acts inwards on any object that rotates or moves along a curved path and is directed toward a center point(Centripetal force). In this case centripetal force is good. when the projectile is released centripetal force pulls it inwards which makes it go farther and be more accurate with out centripetal force the projectile would go straight up or straight down(Centripetal

Staring at the map and planning his next course of action, Nightburn had called a meeting of all his high-ranking officers, Sir Faine, Lady Sara, General Zhousbek, Ject, Ace, his assassination squad and personal bodyguards. His officers trailed into the room over the next few minutes with a group gathered near the door engaged in idle conversation, but all grew quiet when Nightburn directed his question to Ject. “Is everyone here?”

The discovery of gunpowder changed war from being fought with medieval weaponry and battle tactics to more modern day weapons and tactics because the gunpowder powered weapons are more deadly. Weapons that use gunpowder to launch projectiles have a greater range than melee weapons and are more powerful than bow and arrows. Also, cannons are more powerful and have a greater range and accuracy than catapults and they also can be reloaded faster than catapults. Gunpowder weapons changed war because they are stronger, more accurate, have a greater range and are able to be reloaded faster than medieval weaponry.

A Mancatcher is a sort of of pole weapon,with a pronged head,each one semi-circular with two springed “doors” in the front.This created an effective valve that could fit around a man’s neck and keep him trapped.The weapon was mostly used to pull a man from horseback and drag them to the ground where they were helplessly pinned to the ground.This one is one of the few that was considered non-lethal.

The Siege of a Castle was a guarantied victory, but it took a long time of patience. Patience was the key to victory with this strategy, however it was scarce in the battlefield, because of the angry, impatient soldiers waiting to get home to their families. The city walls were suppose to be fortifying a position that could not be easily overrun, and that it could be strong enough to enable the defense to maintain that position for a long period of time. Siege of a fort, castle, or city walls had four basic concepts. The Sieging technique was directly directed towards these four. In order for the attackers to get inside they would have to go over the wall, tear a passage through the wall, dig a tunnel underneath it, or just wait until the defenders surrendered.

The physics concepts associated with them are projectile motion, energy, momentum, forces , speeds, and distances. The kinds of catapults all use the same theme of accumulated tension, but acquire that tension in their own way, their own design. The Mangonel catapult for instance, is what most of us think of as the traditional catapult. A large wooden device with four wheels and a spoon that launches fireballs. The Mangonel stores energy much like a spring would, therefore, we use the equation PEspring = 1/2kx^2. The tension in the ropes and arms of the catapult when pulling on its long arm stores potential energy which is transformed into kinetic energy when fired upon.

2017). From there, the Moors and the Ottoman Turks created their own forms of firearms. The Moors fought the Europeans in Spain for control of the area, and not even a year after that war the first firearms were finished in Italy. Soon after that the first cannons began to appear, the earliest to appear was from the Turks, they created the bombard. Which were these huge cannon, bigger than one could imagine. The bombards would blow down castle wall this was one of the key weapons that caused the city to fall. With it, fell the recipe of another type of gunpowder, which was mostly used as an early form of flame thrower (Sammon, J. 2012).