Do It Better

We decided to try and make our catapult better than it was before in the fire away project. On our first time doing this project we made a small structure, using wood and a small PVC pipe as our launching pole. We then used rubber bands that were connected to the PVC pipe and a nail at the bottom of the structure as the force that would launch our ball. After many attempts our ball got a max of around 20 meters in total distance. This was one of the farthest launches in the class and we thought we did pretty well with it. 

This time we used a pull up bar structure that was built by other students and attached a metal pole that was connected in the middle by a little wood block that acted as a connector piece. This was a much bigger structure than our mini structure the first time. We had some struggles early on with the launch angle, the direction of the ball, and how we pulled the metal pole. We tried to use resistance bands but it wasn't quite fast enough so we decided to use human power as our force. Then we added a wire carriage at the other end that the ball would rest in and we bent it into the angle we wanted the ball to release in. 

Content:

We collected data for almost everyone of our attempts that we did. We measured speed, launch angle, distance in the air, and rotational speed. All of these data points that we looked at were what we thought to be the most relevant to helping us do it better than before. 

Reflection: This project was fun and I enjoyed problem solving and trying all these new trials of our ideas. I thought I used my critical thinking well and although all our ideas did not work all the time, they were always productive and we learned something new every single time. I think I could have helped build our actual ideas a little more than I did, and that is what I am hoping to do in our next project.