DIY Science Catapult

How can making a catapult help you prove something that it took mankind millennia to work out?
Look at the science behind siege engines in the DIY Catapult!

Historical Overview
On War Machines and Mangonels
One of the problems with
warfare throughout history was
that enemies had the annoying
habit of hiding behind
fortifications. The solution: to
find a way of beating down,
piercing or otherwise destroying
part of the wall so as to gain
entry. Alternatively, it was
equally important to be able to
keep others intent on destroying
your walls at bay. Enter the one-
armed throwing engine.

What’s a Mangonel?
The Greeks c200 BC referred to these one-armed
machines as among numerous devices that could be used
by the defence against a besieger’s machinery. People
from the Mediterranean to the China Sea developed war
machines that operated using the elasticity of various
materials. The term catapult is used to describe all of the
different types of throwing machines. What you and I
know as a catapult is actually a mangonel, otherwise
known as an onager. Onager was the slang term derived
from the Greek name for ‘wild donkey’. This referred to
the way the machine ‘kicks’ when it’s fired. The correct
term for the machine is mangonel - derived from the
ancient Greek term “manganon” meaning “engine of
war”.

Historical Evidence
There is very little archaeological or
historical evidence on the mangonel.
However, the Roman, Ammianus, does
describe one in his writings, but the
proportions of the machine are unknown.
There remain some medieval illustrations
of the machines and some speculative
drawings from the 18th and 19th
centuries. However, it is believed that in
late antiquity and the early Middle Ages
the most commonly used stone-throwing
engine was the heavy onager (mangonel).
This war machine was thought to weigh
approximately two tons and hurled an
eight-pound stone some 500 yards. The
lighter version of the mangonel was thought to weigh about 1000 pounds and would have been able to
hurl a 3-4 pound stone about 100 yards. Heavier machines would have been able to throw stones even
further, but were impractical as they were difficult to transport, and when used were assembled on the
battlefield.

How it Works
The mangonel uses a bundle of twisted ropes
(known as the skein) to create torsion and is,
therefore, known as a torsion engine. In
antiquity these ropes would have been made
from either horse hair or human hair, as they
provide the best tensile strength in a fibre. The
ropes are strung across a frame, and in the
middle of the twisted cords the wooden
throwing arm is inserted upright. In some
versions, a sling is attached to the end of the
arm. Many ancient drawings depict the
mangonel as having a bucket or cup at the end
of the throwing arm, and this is the version most commonly depicted in Hollywood movies. This,
however, is not the best way of throwing a rock - in fact, a sling is much more effective. This arm is
lowered and secured, using the strength of between four and eight men, depending on the size of the
machine. The missile could then be loaded into the sling.

Fire!
In lowering the arm, energy is stored in the rope,
and when released, the arm is flung forwards.
The force contained in the skein is at its greatest
when the arm first starts to move, and at its least
when it hits a padded buffer, which acts as a
stopper. This allows the missile to leave the sling
at maximum speed before halting. The sling
detaches from its hook before the arm hits the
stopper, at a point dependent on the length of the
strings holding the sling. Adjusting the length of
the string is how trajectory could be altered so
accurately.

Trébuchets
The period 1180-1220 saw further developments in one-armed throwing machines, with the
development of machines that used fixed or mobile counterweights. These trabuceta (in French they
are called trébuchets) were operated by 50 men, with up to a ten-ton counterweight and were capable
of throwing a stone of 100-150kg about 150 metres. Even in the most favourable conditions a
mangonel could only throw a stone of 20-30kg about 225 metres.

An Age Ends
The age of the siege engine came to an
end with the increasing use of
explosives. Gunpowder was first
developed in China, and migrated to
Europe through the Muslim world. The
first mention of the formula for
gunpowder occurs in a Chinese work of
1044. In the West the first known recipe
for gunpowder was that of Roger Bacon
in 1267. From the middle of the 13th
Century the Moors were known to use
gunpowder in missiles thrown by
catapults or trébuchets. The development
of the cannon inevitably saw the end of
the war machine, but trébuchets were
still considered an essential part of siege

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strategy well into the 15th Century.

LINKS
http://www.trebuchet.com/plans.html

Projectile motion
http://www.xs4all.nl/~mdgsoft/catapult/ballistics.html

Make your own

http://www.xs4all.nl/~mdgsoft/catapult/onager2.html

Onager simulator
http://www.xs4all.nl/~mdgsoft/catapult/sim/index.htm

Medieval Mangonel
http://members.iinet.net.au/~rmine/middel5.html#mangon

How Stuff Works

http://www.howstuffworks.com/question127.htm

Trajectory
http://id.mind.net/~zona/mstm/physics/mechanics/curvedMotion/projectileMotion/generalSolution/gen
eralSolution.html

The Virtual Trébuchet

http://heim.ifi.uio.no/~oddharry/blide/vtreb.html

OU COURSE LINKS
S103 Discovering Science
http://www3.open.ac.uk/courses/bin/p12.dll?C02S103_science

S207 The Physical World

http://www3.open.ac.uk/courses/bin/p12.dll?C02S207_science

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How to make a Catapult

Disclaimer - Please Read

A catapult/mangonel is a weapon. Please
exercise caution when firing this model. This
is a working scale model. To the extent
permitted by law, the BBC, Open University
and its employees or agents accept no liability
or responsibility whatsoever for any loss,
damage or injury arising from the use or
misuse of the catapult/mangonel.

Parts list
Strip wood
(approx. 2.08metres) 20mm x 20mm (2cm square)
Lengths: 125mm x 4
150mm x 2
175mm x 2
300mm x 3

Strip wood 10mm x 10mm x 250mm long x 2

Plywood (or MDF) 50mm x 50mm x 6mm thick x 2

Plywood (or MDF) 40mm x 40mm x 6mm thick x 2

String 2.5mm diameter

N.B. this must be non-elastic

Rounded Steel 3mm diameter

Lengths: 18mm x 2

Screws Wood screws, 3mm wide x 35mm long

Chipboard Screws 3mm wide x 1.5mm long

Washers 2 x washers 17.5mm wide with an 8mm hole

Nails A single oval nail about 20mm long

N.B. the nail must not have a flat head

Tools required
General woodworking tools
Electric drill (we used a 2mm drill bit)
Jigsaw or coping saw
10mm holesaw and drill fitting
Work bench with vice
G-clamps

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Wood glue
Breathing mask (if using MDF)

Making the frame

1. Take two of the 20mm x 300mm pieces

of strip wood and two 20mm x 125mm.
Create a rectangular base. Check that the
corners of the base are square (90
degrees). Put two 35mm wood screws
and glue into each joint.
2. Fix the two 20mm x 150mm pieces of
strip wood vertically inside one end of
the rectangular base. Make sure the short
125mm pieces are at the bottom. Glue
and screw, using 4 screws in each end of
the upright.
3. Attach a 20mm x 125mm piece across the
top of the uprights, on the side facing into
the middle of the rectangle. Trim the
ends.

4. Measure 100mm down from the

uprights, along the long edges of
the rectangle. Fix the last 125mm
piece of wood to the bottom of the
rectangle at this point, making
sure that it is parallel to the others.

Measure and cut the two 20mm x 175mm

pieces of strip wood so that they fit
diagonally from the top of the uprights, as
illustrated. Cut angles on the ends - don’t
worry if they don’t fit perfectly.

Making the ratchet

The ratchet mechanism can be made from

6mm plywood or MDF. Cutting MDF with
a jigsaw produces toxic dust and should
only be carried out in a well ventilated area
and wearing a breathing mask.

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1. Take one of the 50mm square pieces of 6mm
thick plywood, draw a 50mm diameter circle.
Using the same circle centre, mark on a 40mm
diameter circle. Divide your circle up into eight
pie sections by drawing 4 lines directly through
the circle centre. Each line should be 45o from
the next. Now draw smooth curves from the
points where the straight lines meet the outer
circle to the adjacent intersection on the inner
circle (see diagram 3).
2. Carefully cut out the ratchet using a jigsaw (or
coping saw) using a long wood blade.
3. Drill a hole through the centre of the ratchet
using a 10mm holesaw.
4. Use the jigsaw to cut two small chunks of wood,
4mm deep and 4mm wide out of the centre of the
ratchet (see diagram 3). Make sure that the
two chunks line up and are opposite each
other.

5. Take one of the 40mm square pieces of 6mm

thick plywood and mark onto it a 40mm
diameter circle. Cut out the circle.
Repeat steps 1 to 5 to make a second ratchet.

Assembling the throwing arm

1. Make sure that the glue has properly dried
on the catapult. Mark holes 28mm along the
long arm of the base rectangle, measured
from the inside edge of the uprights. To
ensure correct positioning, put the remaining
300mm piece of strip wood vertically, inside
the rectangle and touching the cross piece of
the two uprights. The holes should be in line with the centre of this vertical post (see diagram
1).
2. Use a 10mm holesaw to drill the
holes. You may need to drill from
both sides of the upright to cut all the
way through the timber.
3. Take the string and feed it through the
centre of a ratchet on one side,
through one of the washers, through
one of the holes in the frame, to one
side of the loose, vertical throwing
arm – and then through the hole on
the other side of the frame, through
one of the washers and through the
centre of the second ratchet. Loop the
string around one of the 18mm steel
bars and then feed it all the way back
to the other side of the frame, this
time passing to the other side of the
vertical piece of wood. Make sure you
loop the string around the other short
metal bar. See diagram 4 for correct positioning of the ratchet. Continue until you have a total
of four strands on either side of the vertical post. Pull the string tight and tie off using a reef
knot. Arrange the string so that the knot is inside the main frame, between the two ratchets.

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 4. Fix a length of 10mm x 10mm x 250mm strip wood along the side of the main frame (see
diagram 1 and 4). Only fix at the far end so that it can flex up and down as the ratchet turns.
The end of the timber should lock into the ratchet and stop it moving backwards, but bends up
when the ratchet turns forwards.
5. Use wood screws to fix the two 40mm diameter circles to the centres of the ratchets. This will
completely cover up the ends of the rope and the short metal bars. Don’t use glue, so you can
adjust later.
6. Wrap string around the middle of the crossbar fixed to the vertical posts. This string will
provide impact resistance to the throwing arm.
7. Adjust the throwing arm until it is in the middle of the crossbar, then twist each ratchet a
couple of turns. This will twist the strands of string and hold the vertical post in place. Try to
put the same amount of twist onto each side of the string.
8. Carefully pull the throwing arm back and down to the base. Mark where the throwing arm
crosses the rear of the catapult base and cut the throwing arm to length.

The firing mechanism and tensioning

1. Hammer a single, oval headed

nail into the end of the
throwing arm. Leave 5mm
protruding.
2. Below the nail, in the cross
piece of the frame, put a
screw.
3. Tie one end of the string to the
screw and make a loop in the
string about 5mm along from
this end (see diagram 5)
4. You are now ready to tension
the catapult and prepare for
firing.

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 5. To tension the catapult - put a
quarter turn into each ratchet - in
turn.
6. Keep tensioning until it becomes
hard to pull the throwing arm down
to the catapult base.
7. Take the catapult to a wide open
area and make sure that you can see
all of the possible firing arc (180
degrees across and 5 metres long).
8. Pull the throwing arm back and
hook the loop of string onto the oval
nail.
9. Tug the string to fire. You will need
to build a small launching platform
onto the end of the firing arm, or
alternatively tie a spoon on the end.
The angle of the launch platform
will determine the trajectory of the
missile.

Have fun making the catapult and take care when firing it. May your aim be true…

Important Safety Advice

• Do not over tension the catapult. You should be able to move the throwing arm by hand. If
you see any distortion of the frame slacken the string and strengthen the frame.
• Once the catapult’s throwing arm is in the firing position beware – the weapon is cocked and
ready to fire.
Once the catapult is loaded, keep half a metre clear of the back of the device and at least 5m clear of
the front firing arc. Assume that the firing arc is 180 degrees across (see diagram 6).

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Science
Men as Missiles
A catapult or mangonel is a weapon, and is quite dangerous. The science as described in this section is
intended to be a theoretical introduction to the physics involved. Under no circumstances should
anyone attempt to use a catapult to fly over a castle wall. Do not try it at home!

Would it be possible to fling two men over

a castle wall using a mangonel? The first
thing we should consider is historical
accuracy. Very few pictures of mangonels
exist, so even though we may build one
that appears to work, there is no guarantee
that it bears any resemblance to one used
in antiquity. That said, let’s take a look at
the science - is it in the realm of
possibility?

In order to minimise the risk to life and

limb, rather than flinging ourselves out of a catapult, we’ll look at the movie Robin Hood, starring
Kevin Costner and Morgan Freeman, where the two protagonists appear to be successful in doing just
this.

We need to calculate the force that the mangonel is exerting, to find out if the machine is capable of
flinging two men over a castle wall. To do this we need to work out their take-off speed, so we can
work out how fast the mangonel’s arm accelerates, which, in turn, will allow us to calculate its force.
At the beginning we can estimate that the two men weigh about 90 kg each, and we can see from the
movie that the catapult’s arm is about two metres long.

Force
The force of an object is determined by its mass multiplied by its acceleration. Force is measured in
Newtons (N).

Take-off speed
The velocity of an object is the measure of its speed, defined as the distance travelled over a set period
of time. Velocity is measured in metres per second. (m/s). The difference between velocity and speed is
that velocity can be expressed as a negative numerical value, whereas you can’t get negative speed.

Accleration
Acceleration of an object describes changes in its velocity. Acceleration is measured in metres per
second (m/s).

The force comes from energy stored in the twisted rope, which is very strong and slightly elastic.
When you twist it, it stretches. When you let it go it untwists again. The maximum force the twisted
rope can exert is approximately the same as the maximum tensile force it can stand. Twist it any more
and it would break. In reality the rope would need to be capable of forces greater than those calculated
here, as we’ve made a few assumptions within the calculations that would lead to greater stress.

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Take-off Speed
In the movie the two protagonists fly
upwards for 1.6 seconds. We know
this, because we timed it from the
movie, by counting the frames. This
means that gravity takes 1.6 seconds to
slow them from take-off speed to zero,
which is when they drop back to Earth.
Gravity will accelerate any object at a
rate of 9.8 metres per second per
second (also known as 9.8 m/s2). What
this means is that if we fall for one
second we'll reach a speed of 9.8
metres per second. After two seconds
we are travelling at 19.6 metres per second. So the further you fall, the more you speed up.

Vertical Velocity
The first step in working out how fast the two men
would be flying is to measure velocity in the vertical
direction. To do this, we use this formula:

vv = uv + avt.

Roll over the equation to find out what the letters

stand for.

vv is the final component of the velocity in the vertical

direction, (which is zero at the point they stop rising).
uv is the initial component of the velocity in the
vertical direction (what we want to find).
av is the component of the acceleration in the vertical
direction (–gravity).
t is the time taken.

0 = uv + (9.8 x 1.6)
therefore, by moving the uv to the other side of the
equals sign, we get:
uv = 15.7 m/s
So if the two men were just going up and down, they would take-off at just over 15 metres per second,
which is about 35 miles per hour!

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Horizontal Velocity
However, the two protagonists do not just fly
straight up and down. There is a component of
the velocity, uh in the horizontal direction. This
is because they take off at an angle θ, not
vertically upwards.

Since uv and uh can be treated as vector

quantities the velocity of take-off u can be
calculated from trigonometry:

u = uv/sin θ
Roll over the equation to find out what the letters
stand for.

u is velocity, which is what we want to find out.

It’s also the hypotenuse of this triangle.
uv is the vertical velocity, and we just worked out
that this is 15.7 m/s.
sin is the shortened version for ‘sine’ (pronounced like the word "sign"). It’s a mathematician’s
shorthand meaning “the ratio of the height to the hypotenuse”.
θ is the symbol we use to describe how big the angle is (in degrees) - we don’t know what this is yet.

In order to work out this equation, we need to know what the angle is.

How Far Does the Arm Move?

The distance they travel whilst being thrown
by the mangonel depends upon which point
they leave the seat.

If the angle of the trajectory is θ to the

horizontal then they travel 90-θ when being
thrown. The circumference of a circle is 2πr
and in this case r is the length of the throwing
arm, about 2m. So if they travelled a full circle
(360°) they would move 12.6m (4π), so
travelling 90 - θ means they move 12.6(90-
θ)/360m. So to find out the distance the
catapult’s arm is moving we now need to
know what angle θ is.

2πr is the standard mathematical equation for finding out the circumference of a circle.
Pi π is 22/7.
r is the radius of a circle, in this case this is made up by the throwing arm of the catapult, which we
know is about 2m.
So to work out the circumference of a circle formed by the throwing arm of the mangonel:
2 x 22/7 x 2 = 12.6

So What Was Their Velocity?

The angle of the trajectory depends upon how long the load is in contact with the arm.

Most mangonels show the arm stopping after it has travelled 90° so there should be no component of
velocity in the vertical distance.

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However, usually the load leaves the mangonel before the arm is completely upright (because the force
of the arm drops off as it unwinds). This occurs at about 70° (this is a θ value of 20°). Hence the
trajectory is pretty low.

However, the movie shows them going up and down pretty close to the vertical. For this the arm would
only move a small distance, say 20°, before the load lost contact with the arm. In this case the arm
would have travelled too small a distance to be able to get the velocity up to 15.7 m/s. So it seems that
in the movie they cheated! The two men couldn’t have passed over the wall at the angle shown.

So let’s compromise with 45°which gives us a reasonable height and has the load in contact with the
arm for a reasonable time.

So the velocity u = 15.7sin(45)

= 22.2 m/s

Acceleration
We now need to know how much the
mangonel’s arm accelerates, so that we can use
that to calculate the forces involved. To
calculate acceleration we use the equation:

v2 = u2 + 2as

v is the final velocity, which we worked out

earlier to be 22.2 m/s
u is the initial velocity, which we know is zero.
a stands for acceleration, which is what we want
to find out.
s stands for speed, assuming a constant acceleration over the distance moved. We worked out before
that the distance the arm moves is 12.6 x 45/360 = 1.58m.
So s = 1.58m.

22.22 = 0 + 2 x 1.58 x a
we need to move a to the other side of the equal sign:
a = 22.22/3.16
a = 156 m/s2

Force in the Catapult’s Arm

To work out the forces involved, we need to use Newton’s First Law,
F = ma,
where F stands for net force, m is the mass of an object, and a is acceleration.
So if m = 180kg (the combined weight of the two men) and a = 156m/s2 then
F = 180kg x 156m/s2
= 28 080 Newtons.
This is equivalent to the downward force exerted by a mass of nearly 3 tonnes due to gravity.

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 Force Exerted in the Rope
So we know that the force needed to throw the
men is 28 080 Newtons. But how do we
calculate how much force is actually exerted in
the rope?

If we assume the tensioned rope at the centre

has a radius of 0.2m, then the force to drive the
throwing arm will be exerted along this radius.
However, it is not evenly distributed because
more rope is needed per unit radius as we move
outwards, so the average point is actually two
thirds of the radius, in this case 0.2 x 0.67 =
0.134m.

Assuming there is a force of 28 080 Newtons at the end of the throwing arm (2m) then the force
needed at a point 0.134m from the centre is 28 080 x 2/0.134 = 420 000 Newtons. This force
(equivalent to the downward force exerted by a mass of nearly 14 tonnes due to gravity) must come
from the coiled rope. The rope is already tensioned, and when the arm is pulled back the tension is
increased. Thus the force exerted by the coiled rope must be greater than this.

Would the rope be capable

of that?
Would rope built in the year 1194
be that strong?

In 1194 rope was built of natural

fibres - animal hair, sinew, hemp
and even human hair. Human hair
was used to make ropes when other
resources were not available: the
isolated Islanders of St Kitts used to
make them to abseil down the cliffs
to steal birds’ eggs; Japanese
monks in the 13th Century made them over 10 inches in diameter to lift bells weighing more than 120
tons. Just for fun, we’re going to test out human hair. We’ll assume that the theoretical maximum force
that the twisted rope could exert is comparable to its maximum tensile strength. So we need to know if
a rope made of human hair is capable of exerting a force of 420 000 Newtons (or about 14 tonnes).

The average hair has a radius of 0.00005 m, then in a rope of radius 0.2m there will be:
0.79 x π x 0.22/(π x 0.000052)
= 12 600 000 hairs
(the factor of 0.79 is because the hair has a circular cross section, thus cannot pack together
completely.)

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 If there are 120 000 hairs on a human head this would
require about 400-500 heads of hair for a four foot
length. Assuming the force is felt equally across the
rope, each hair feels a force of:
420 000/12 600 000 = 0.03 Newtons.
This is equivalent to the downward force exerted by a
mass of about 3 grams due to gravity.

So, we hung weights from a human hair to see if it

could take a mass of 3g or greater and found it could
hold 50g! More than enough to make the catapult fling!

Of course, there’s dozens of things we haven’t taken

into account - like how would they make the rope, how
long would it have to be, how friction affects the
strength, whether stretching the hair affects its strength
and even how elastic hair is…

Try it!
Now that you’ve had to go at building your own catapult/mangonel, and you know a little more about
the science behind it, here’s you chance to prove your credentials. You may have noticed that in the
Science section we did the calculations for two men being thrown over a castle wall. Strange how the
mangonel we built was ever so much smaller!

Experiment
Now if we were to throw a 2p coin that weighs 3.4 grams any distance with our model mangonel, what
would be the required force generated in the string? Assume that we are using the proportions as
outlined in the “How to make a Catapult” section.

Equation Toolkit
(for explanations of these equations please look at “Men as Missiles”)

Vertical Velocity
vv = uv + avt

Horizontal Velocity
u = uv/sin θ

Circumference of a circle
2πr

Acceleration
v2 = u2 + 2as

Force
F = ma

Average point of rope’s radius

2/3r

Variables (What you need to know)

• How long does it take the coin to fly through the air and hit the ground? You’ll need to halve this to
get the time to the top of the parabola (where it stops rising and starts to come down again) .
• Gravity is 9.8 m/s2.

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• Once we’d trimmed the throwing arm, it measured 250mm, although yours may be longer.
• What is the angle at which the coin leaves the catapult’s arm (from the horizontal)? This will need
to be an educated guess from your own observations (and it’s a really good excuse to fire your
catapult a few times!). If you haven’t built your own catapult/mangonel, then you will have to
estimate this angle.

How did you do? Join our forum at http://www.open2.net/forum/forum.jsp?forum=14 and let us know
whether you’ve cracked it.

Now here’s another one for you. If we didn’t know what gravity is - how would we find out? It’s a
question that took man thousands of years to discover, but using your catapult and what you’ve learnt
here, you should be able to find out! Join the debate! Visit the forum and let us know how you’ve
done, go to: http://www.open2.net/forum/forum.jsp?forum=14

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