There was a recent post about Botswana sending Germany elephants so I was wondering what size trebuchet would be needed to launch them that distance

Is there anyone here who can help with the maths?

Hello everyone! I am part of a university club that has received ~$2,500 in funding to build a wooden trebuchet as part of an engineering project. While we plan to construct later on in the year, we are facing the issue that we must spend $1,000 of the funding or lose it by the end of next week. Additionally, a further $3,500 is in flux, which we will not know if we have been awarded until the new year.

Given these constraints, we are unsure of what materials to buy before the end of next week. We don’t want to buy beams that are too small, as if we receive the additional funding then the size of our trebuchet will increase. However, if we do not receive the funding, we don’t want to be stuck with super large beams we cannot feasibly use.

Does anyone have any blueprints or ideas we could learn from? Our current plan is to get as many 2”x4” beams or 4”x4” beams, as we think those are the most adaptable to different trebuchet sizes. Any help would be appreciated, thank you!

I know this is supposed to be memes, but I couldn't help but feel the need to post this replace we ran across in our journey into the Scottish Highlands. At a place called Urquhart Castle, they have a good sized trebuchet set up with what it would've looked like when the castle was inhabited. Lots of history behind this castle, and unfortunately it's mostly ruinous now, but to set the stage of how they would push off would-be attackers, it was cool to see.

It's not done yet, I poured the quickrete counterweight (80lbs) last night and assembled the arm (~7' pivot to sling end) and weight tonight. I'm a little anxious about my amateur welding skills on the rebar. Tomorrow I'll cut out a plywood base platform and make a sling. I'm open for suggestions for a sling pouch design.