Ballista Physics Essay Example For Students

Ballista Physics Essay The Results of this experiment is Ballista Basic Information A Ballista was one of the siege engines used during the Medieval Era and was an invaluable siege attack weapon. The Ballista was used by both the attackers and defenders as an effective anti-personal weapon. For defenders the positioning upon the walls of a fortification would afford additional range to the weapon, and some were placed on pivoting frames to allow for quickly repositioning a shot. For attackers, the Ballista was sometimes a wagon mounted carry-ballista, allowing it retreat mobility in the field. History of a Ballista The Ballista history dates back to antiquity. The Ballista is believed to be an ancient war engine which was invented by the Greeks and modified by the Romans in BBC. The Ballista reached Europe during the Medieval era and was used extensively by the French. History notes that the Ballista was introduced to England in 1216 during the Siege of Dover as were many other types of siege engines. Louis the Dauphin of France crossed the Channel with a large force and laid siege to Dover Castle making a lenient and incessant attack on the castle walls. He used the Ballista against the walls and men of Dover Castle. Physics off Ballista The Ballista looked like a large frame-mounted crossbow, however, its firing mechanism was quite different. Two torsion springs mounted in a frame wound wind in opposite directions to pull back throwing arm. A rope, which was used in a similar way to a bow string, connected the two throwing arms and was mechanically retracted into firing position. The throwing arms were originally designed using wood ND animal sinew (tendon tissue). It could be configure to throw either bolts or stones but eventually became primarily for bolt throwing. A Ballista mechanism (picture form Mediaevalists. Com) The equations that are used to measure a ballista of force, velocity and range are : VIA=ax -?siskin/g F=force applied x=the length of a Ballista g=acceleration due to gravity m=mass v=Locality r=range a-?acceleration The constants that will be used throughout these experiments are as follows: Results Are as follows: