Simple Science Experiment—How to Build Your Own Catapult - MetroFamily Magazine
MetroFamily Magazine

Where OKC parents find fun & resources

Simple Science Experiment—How to Build Your Own Catapult

by Steve Davala

Reading Time: 2 minutesย 

Invented about 1,500 years ago, catapults were an amazing piece of technology for their time. Originally developed as a siege engine for war, this clever technology was used to bring down the castle walls of your enemy. The basic components of a catapult include a long arm that can be pulled back under tension and then released and launched with great forceโ€”making castle walls a thing of the past. Since we rarely need to take down a neighboring castle anymore, we can use the principles of basic catapulting for a more entertaining purpose. Your family can build your own mini-catapult to fling ping pong balls to knock down a targetโ€”or scale it up to do your own punkinโ€™ chunkin after Halloween!

Materials:

  • 10 bamboo skewers;
  • 5 marshmallows;
  • a medium sized rubber band;
  • some Dixie cups (one for the catapult, and others for stacking a tower);
  • a ping pong ball (or other small projectile that wonโ€™t damage things);
  • masking tape;
  • heavy snips (for cutting the bamboo skewers).

Procedure:

  • Refer to the picture to see where you are heading, or if you are creative, go ahead and try to build one similar or even your own model!
  • Put three marshmallows in a perfect triangle on a table and connect them by sticking them with three bamboo skewers. This is your base.
  • Take the next three skewers and shorten them by about 1 inch with the snips.
  • Attach these to the base marshmallows pointing towards toward the center and up a bit of an angle.
  • Connect all three of these together by sticking them into one marshmallow.
  • Put a strip or two of masking tape around this marshmallow, as it will get a lot of stress on it.
  • Take one last skewer and attach it to a Dixie cup. You can poke through its side at the bottom, or attach it by tape. Take this skewer and stick it into one base marshmallow.
  • Wrap a rubber band around the Dixie cup end and over the center marshmallow.
  • Now, add a ping pong ball to the cup, pull back, and bombs away!
  • Set up some empty Dixie cups as a makeshift castle and try to knock it down.

Be sure to be safe as you begin catapulting. Make sure you donโ€™t aim anything at someoneโ€™s face. Or use rocks, as things might get broken (remember the castle walls?). This is just one example of a simple catapult that you can construct. Can you think of other longer lasting materials to use to make your next catapult? Can you build a larger catapult?

Steve Davala is a middle school science teacher who likes to write both nonfiction experiment pieces as well as fiction fantasy adventures. Heโ€™s got two kids of his own, who both like science (even if what they really like doing best is mixing baking soda and vinegar.)

more stories