Trebuchet Research Paper

The trebuchet is an ancient siege weapon that reflects the intelligence of ancient engineers. There is evidence that the first trebuchet was introduced by the Chinese in the 3rd or 4th century BC. This trebuchet was not very reliable, as it used human body weight to propel an object. However, it led to later improvement of the design. The counterweight trebuchet, a more efficient design of the trebuchet, was created by people living around the Mediterranean in the 12th century. For example, in the year 1216, King Edward I ordered his engineer to build an extremely large trebuchet for him. It was called the Warwolf, and it is still considered to be one of the most powerful trebuchets in history.

Before the 12th century, Greek and Roman engineers designed other war machines. However, after historians compared the earlier, more complex designs to the relatively simple design of the trebuchet, they discovered that creators in later years understood the effectiveness of …show more content…
This trebuchet was operated by people manually pulling up and letting go of one side of the trebuchet’s throwing arm in order to launch the projectile held in the other side of the throwing arm. Although the traction trebuchet was an impressive design, after just a couple of uses, the people operating it would become tired. When engineers reconsidered the classic design, they invented the counterweight, or counterpoise trebuchet. The new design utilized the power of a heavy counterweight object, such as a rock, dropping to launch the desired projectile. To make this trebuchet even more efficient, engineers added wheels to the throwing arm’s frame. This improvement allowed the trebuchet to glide around a little during launch, causing the projectile to be thrown more accurately. Even these trebuchets, however, could only be operated about 4 times per day, due to the weight being difficult to raise

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