Competition Goals
This event has two portions — accuracy and distance.
You must enter the same catapult in both sub-events. Your
total score will be the sum of the scores from the two
sub-events. The projectile itself will be a ping-pong ball
and all “hits” are defined to be the initial
point of impact (bounce and roll does not count). You will
have one minute to prep your catapult before each shot.
After one minute, the shot is disqualified and receives
zero points. An unmodified ping-pong ball must be used
and it must travel through the air by itself (i.e. the
ball may not be launched inside a carrier).
Accuracy
A circular piece of cardboard (roughly the size of a large
pizza) will be placed on the floor at a distance between
2 m and 8 m (to be determined the day of the competition)
from the launch line surrounded by a one square meter secondary
target (which you may position as desired). You may measure
the distance and then get one shot to hit the target.
This process will be repeated twice (three
shots total, each at a different distance) and your score
for this portion of event will be the total points scored
on all three shots.
Distance
You will get three shots to shoot the projectile as far
as possible with the best shot determining your score.
If the projectile hits the ceiling or wall, the distance
will be marked at that point. You will receive 1 point
for every decimeter of flight.
Since this is a competition, project scoring will be
partially determined by finishing position. The more
points you score, the better you will place!
Group Details
You may work in groups of up to three on this project
but groups are not required. If any member of your
group does not contribute their fair share, please
send me
an e-mail.
Grading
Half the grade on this project will be based on the
results of the competition. The catapults will be
ranked by total
points earned in the competition. The top scoring
catapult will receive 50/50 points. Each position down
in the
finishing order will correspond to a drop in points
for this portion of the grade.
The second half of your grade will be based on the
design and testing of the catapult. Inventive or
unique designs
will score much better than rat traps stapled to
a board. You should also provide some sort of data
table
as evidence
of your test firing. The more evidence you provide
of effort in the design, construction and testing
portion of the project, the better you will score.
Competition Day
Catapults are due the first day after spring break.
Students not present that day must have someone bring
their catapult and fire it during the competition
or forfeit. NO LATE CATAPULTS WILL BE ACCEPTED!!
