pitsco Trebuchet - Activity Idea: Testing Mass Plates

6 Trebuchet User Guide 58670 V0313
Activity Idea
Using the built Trebuchet Kit, students will launch small balls of clay while using various numbers of mass
plates. Students measure the resulting ranges and graph them.
Preparation
Set up a ring range by rolling out a 30-foot length of two-foot-wide white paper (Pitsco Range Paper) or
a similar type of paper. Tape this down so it doesn’t move. If many students do this experiment with their
individual trebuchets, be sure they each have a clay ball that has the same mass (for example, 10 grams of
clay).
You will also need a measuring tape and a student to watch the landing and record the results.
Testing Dierent Numbers of Mass Plates
Add four mass plates to the trebuchet and set the model at one end of the paper. Place the clay ball into
the sling and set the trigger. Launch the ball and record the result in the table below. Repeat this twice
more with the same number of mass plates. Then, average the three ranges and record this average in the
Average range column.
Repeat this process for the other numbers of mass plates. After all tests have been completed, predict
the range of a teacher-specied odd number of mass plates. After making your prediction and writing it
down, test this number of mass plates and answer the questions below.
What was the range?
Was your prediction accurate?
What did you learn about the connection between the amount of mass used and the resulting range?
What do you think would happen if you changed the mass of the clay ball?
Number of
mass plates
Trial 1 range
(cm)
Trial 2 range
(cm)
Trial 3 range
(cm)
Average
range (cm)
4
6
8
10
12
14