SYNDICATE

During the launch, essential components were brought as replacements in case the catapult broke; however, these replacements were not as good as the materials used on the original catapult. During the first launch attempt, the projectile travelled 11.44m. In this time, the catapult also had a high initial velocity as bungee cords and torsion created the force that would yank the arm forward and as a result, launch the projectile a certain distance.

 

It was predicted that the arm would not break from the collision between itself and the impact taker. This is because it was made from a thick piece of wood, and had been previously tested. However, what we were unaware about was that it could snap while we were winding it up. After the first successful try, the arm snapped. 

 

It was quite tough finding another arm that could fire as well as our original one. We were not able to find one just as good; however, after searching, we were able to find one arm that could fire some distance. Initially, the new arm fired 8.5m; however, after some modifications were made, it was able to fire a maximum range of 9.6m. 

 

The catapult (arm included) was elevated to about 1.8m. Furthermore, in order to calculate the time it took for the projectile to travel a certain range, a stopwatch was used. For the first launch, a time of 1.661 seconds was recorded. For the second launch, a time of 1.454 seconds was recorded, and for the last launch, a time of 1.582 seconds was recorded.

 

The projectile travelled a horizontal distance of 11.44 m while having a maximum height of 6.552 m.

 

 

.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sources of Error:

The Sources of error that could exist in this lab are mostly instrumental. This is because, the main reason the catapult would not work properly is if it broke, or if something got stuck in the mechanism. Therefore, causing the instrument to become problematic. For us, the first instrumental error occured when our arm broke, too much tension was applied to the arm and as a result, it broke. Furthermore, another error that occured was rotating the handles on the side of the catapult. The handles were circular wooden pieces that were extremely difficult to rotate, especially by hand. As a result, a lever and fulcrum type of mechanism had to be used in order to create torsion. One way to avoid these errors is to use better instruments; however, given our scarce budget, we could not afford luxurious items such as PVC piping, we had to make due with what we had. Therefore, another way to avoid these errors is to avoid wasting any materials. Wasting materials, especially given a scarce budget is an unintelligent thing to do because as we have learned in our project that what may initially seem like waste, might actually help in the future. 

 

 

Reflections:

 

Group: Mr. Lall felt like the MVP with this project. This is because not only did he supply the Syndicate with the building location, he also got sponsors for the catapult, and more importantly, gave a highly expletive lecture on why the giving the King of Romance: Shahrukh Khan, a low-budget, #$%%# #%%@dh (a lot of swearing in punjabi)catapult was a stupid idea. He told them that a King like Shahrukh Khan deserved something more cultural and virtuous. Woodz Co. is glad to have employed him. 

 

This was the Syndicate's final task and it felt quite daunting. Some succumbed to social life problems, while others lacked initiative; however, some were exceptional in their effort and deserved to graduation from the ਗ-league to the ਠ-league (gandha league to theek-thak league). Initially, however, all members put in a great amount of effort to successfully complete the Khan Catapult. However, because of a faculty strike over salary disagreements, two members, Real-Gujju and Dot Product went on strike. As a result, the real MVP, Mr. Lall had to take care of them. This task felt like it taught the members of the Syndicate an extremely important lesson which they will use in life. It is better to spend money to create something beautiful than to create something weak and ugly by spending very less money. It also taught them minor lessons. First, it is extremely important to be determined during the entire duration of a task. The lack of determination after the strike created a disruption in the cohesiveness of the Syndicate; therefore, only two members graduated. Even more important, is to learn how to make others stay determined. If one is able to learn the skill of motivating others and motivating oneself, effort will quickly follow. 

 

Woodz Co. is satisfied with Parmveer and Jasmit aka, Primaevera and Bucktown Bhatia and would like to upgrade their status to the ਠ

league. Woodz Co. would also like to thank Mr. Lall for being such a great help and taking care of Dot Product and Real-Gujju, who according the police are at home, still on strike. And finally, thank you Mrs. Bhatia for coming clutch and showing us all that it is only you who knows how to give the perfect gift to the perfect person. Thanks to Mrs. Bhatia, Shahrukh Khan will now, whenever he picks up that book, will be in Northern Ontario staring at the wildlife of Crow Lake, through Kate's eyes.

 

Jasmit: Since the catapult broke, we had to get Shahrukh Khan another present. Since, we are a Canadian company, we wanted to show him the Canadian culture and knowing that he reads anything and everything, we thought what better present to get him than the McKitterick Prize winning novel Crow Lake. Another thing that made this present so poetic was that it was one of Mrs. Bhatia's favourite novels (Do not doubt our Canadianess,need proof,look at how we spelled favourite). 

 

We could have made the catapult better. This is because the materials we used to make the catapult were not the most ideal. This is because the did not function as well as other, more expensive materials could have worked. For example, the rope that we used was a thick clothesline type rope that had very little elasticity. In order to rotate the arm, we used circular pieces of wood. Other, more financially gifted designs, used luxurious items, such as PVC piping and nylon rope. Initially we wanted to use nylon rope; however, it was $50.00. We do not have that much money. However, our lack of financial resources made us think on how to create the best catapult by spending the least amount of money. On the day of the launch, we were confident, that our catapult would hit the required distances. It hit the first target; however, it broke after that, and if it launched 10m while hitting a height of 1.2m, it could have made 12m and 14m. However, the arm broke and we learned our lesson. We should have invested in more arms. One smart thing we did with our catapult though was that we got sponsors; therefore, even though our initial one broke, we got more than enough money from sponsors to make another one on a luxury budget.

Sponsors Include: Tiyan da Mela, Amrinder Gill, Manmohan Khroud Real-Estate, Begum Noor, Prem Jyotish, and Bollywood Magazine.

 

During the construction a faculty strike occured, half-way into the strike, two members of the Syndicate fell victim to the strike; Real-Gujju and Dot Product fell off the Catapult Construction Squad and as a result, were replaced by Harjot, that little kid who lives near No-Frills. Dot Product and Real Gujju did not care about the analysis of the catapult launch, more importantly, they did not care about Shahrukh Khan. That is why, as of June 8th, 2015, they are still on strike. The remaining members of the Syndicate tried to persuade them to come back to the Woodz side; however, Real-Gujju's words were on point, he said "I don't even care anymore." As a result, he, along with Dot Product were instantly replaced. In order to avoid them letting out any secrets, Mr. Lall came clutch and took care of them. Wherever they are now, they will have no memory of Woodz Co. EVER. Let this be a lesson to all who want to come to Woodz Co. Once you go into Woodz Co. there is no other place, you can go.

 

 

Parmveer:   OMG! This assignment was THE BEST(so far). The mission to build a catapult with my fellow agents and take down the school was a major assignment. The assignment was started by me and Jasmit making plans for each meeting (posted on web). On the first day we made a blueprint with only primavera and JEEEEETA! Second day I bought all the materials  and we started building. Me and Jasmit completed the catapult without breaking a sweat. BUT! one problem had approached us THE ALMIGHTY STRIKE OF THE TEACHERS (BREAK TIME). The strike for the teachers started also for 2 of our group members. The superior Dot Product was not seen during the strike (well he was only seen about once a month) and the Real Gaju (parth) was too cool for school. Jasmit and I go through the storm and complete the catapult by asking other friends for help (thanks Sagar, Harjot and Talwinder). The time passes by and the testing day arrives. Jasmit, Real Gaju, Dot product and I all got together again on the testing day. Before the testing we had encountered a problem with our supreme member Dot Product. He got lost...At the end of the day we completing everything, not the best catapult but it was a masterpiece that we placed all our effort into. Me and Jasmit played as the main brains and constructors, Parth did the movie making and editing (some help every now and then but too cool for us) and Dot product... We had fun and made some bonds and learnt a lot. The understanding of how a catapult works and the construction depends majorly on arm and strong materials.  The physics helped us find the angle we should shoot at and the how far back to pull.