Secure these sticks together by wrapping rubber bands around both ends of the stack. Take six craft sticks, stack them one on top of the other.Make sure any objects you launch are soft and light so as not to harm anyone or cause any damage to objects around you.
Shooting hard objects or using other homemade catapults can be dangerous. Note: The simple catapult described in this project is safe when used with a cotton ball.It should be a sturdy, flat surface such as a table or floor.) Small open area (One square meter will do.Cotton ball (If you do not have any available, you can make a small ball by crumbling some paper.).Plastic bottle cap to hold a cotton ball.But would the amount of energy with which you're loading your device factor in as well? Try this activity to find out! The position of the launching device when the missile becomes airborne is an important parameter of aiming. When you let go, this stored energy is released, converted into energy of motion and transferred to the missile (the launched object), which then flies through the air. The catapult you are about to make uses elastic potential energy stored in a wooden stick as you bend it. This energy is stored in the launching device as potential, or stored, energy. When you prepare the catapult to launch, you add energy to it. Can you predict where your missile will land?Ī catapult works because energy can be converted from one type to another and transferred from one object to another.
#Catapult design ideas how to
Even Greeks and Romans used catapults about 2,000 years ago! These simple machines are quite handy, as long as you know how to aim them! In this science activity you will try your hand at catapult technology.
And medieval knights used them centuries earlier for taking down massive castle walls. Catapults were mighty handy for pirates in the golden age of piracy (during the 17th century).