Winston students catapult into physics

Winston physics students were presented a challenge to build a machine that would launch an object at a target. The four participating students: Robert Keeper, Garret Meier, Courtney Riggs, and Denise Weigand, didn’t take the challenge lightly. They quickly decided on a catapult that would launch a basketball into the school’s basketball rims. The students started with a working design on paper that could easily be adjusted for the force of the throw, the maximum height, the maximum distance, the angle of the toss, and the change of direction.

This project incorporated several of their first nine chapter objectives. The catapult was built over the course of three weeks by the above students in the school’s shop class. After solving many design problems along the way, the students were able to demonstrate their catapult in front of the student body on Tuesday, March 13, sinking 50% of the attempted free throws.