The Trebuchet Essay examples -- medieval siege machine

Used by castle commanders during times of peace to hurl roses to ladies during tournaments, trebuckets proved a deadly weapon in the field of antediluvian patriarch warfare. Flinging a wide variety of objects hundreds of yards, the trebuchet became the weapon of choice for laying siege to a castle. Its incredible range could often place it beyond the in effect(p) defense range of the castle archers, thereby permitting the besiegers to destroy the defenders walls with little interference. During extended sieges, trebuchets were often used to hurl large quantities of dung, dead animals, and other such items to come along disease throughout the besieged city.Trebuchets earned a reputation for being much more accurate and precise than their onager and catapult counterparts. Not moreover was this accuracy a benefit, but being based on rotational motion and leverage rather than torsion (spring power) and lacking in a throwing artillery stop, the trebuchet proved a much safer alterna tive for the personnel operating it. Onagers and Mangonels would literally explode on occasion when the torsion proved too owing(p) or a crack developed in the throwing arm due to the rapid stops it experienced.All in all, the Trebuchet was a fearsome weapon of mass destruction during the Middle Ages, a force to be reckoned with. Trebuchets only lost favor when cannons emerged, and the primary benefit of the cannon that the trebuchet lacked was not in fact power, but rather mobility. Smaller, more maneuverable cannons rapidly overran the position of the trebuchet in most armies across the world.Warwolf, the legendary trebuchet built by the English Army to destroy Castle Urquhart, which was located in the Highlands of Scotland, on the shores of the also infamous Loch Ness. Par... ...elease and a more horizontal trajectory, with higher velocity.In an act to better understand the components of the trebuchet and to permit the viewer a better idea of the manner in which the firing of a trebuchet occurs, a trebuchet constructed entirely of K-nex was built this past week. The counterweight consisted of 5000 steel bbs wrapped in plastic and duct tape, while the sling itself was made of duct tape and twine. The remaineder of the trebuchet, including the throwing arm, were constructed stringently from K-nex.Standing some 3 feet tall, this trebuchet could repeatedly launch a 2-3oz object in excess of 20 feet.Lengthening the sling proved valuable, change magnitude velocity and range considerably. However, a point was reached at which the sling length could be said to be optimized, and lengthening it further only created unpredictable emerge angles.