Upper Sixth Former Dan Lumley-Wood completed his Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) in style by designing and building a ten-foot-high trebuchet to help him understand the mathematics of how a trebuchet works, and how various factors in its construction affect performance.
Dan, who is studying Chemistry, Physics and Maths at A-Level, decided to base his EPQ on a trebuchet as it was the perfect intersection between his interests in history and engineering while incorporating a project he had wanted to start for a while.
Dan told us, “Once the trebuchet was constructed, it was tested on the school estate, launching a cricket ball with different counterweight masses and throwing arm lengths, in an effort to gain a more complete idea of the critical factors affecting trebuchet performance. The results will now be processed, analysed and written into the report for my EPQ.”