Isaac and I had to think pretty hard about physics that we had not used before. We have used kinematic equations, forces, and we have both taken wood shop (so no new physics can be used from that room). So, we tried to think a bit more about the core concepts in the trebuchet, more specifically the arm. We looked more into the concept online, and to put it simply, we looked into the following equation:
W1 * A1 = W2 * A2, where W stands for weight and A stands for arm length. If the two sides were equal, then the arm would be perfectly balanced. But, by having a shorter arm on the one side, with more weight on it, that creates more pull for the one side. And, by having a larger arm with the sling on it, it gets whipped around due to the large pull of the other side, and that is why it is able to fling so well. If the sling attached to the short side, the entire arm would whip around as quickly, and the arc would be smaller. It may be relatively simple physics, but Isaac and I had not worked with it before.
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