Description
Build a ballista, a siege engine once used by the Greeks and Romans, to teach kinematics and projectile motion. The ballista uses torsion spring bundles and lever arms and can launch Ping-Pong® balls more than 30 ft. The 2 lever arms pull on the pouch, accelerating the Ping-Pong® ball away from the ballista. Study conservation of energy, Newton’s third law, and parabolic trajectories using the 4 separate angular settings of the ballista.