Today we tested our trebuchet with the weights! It went fairly well, and thankfully didn't break. It went a bit further than the other ones I have seen, so I am pretty pleased with that. We didn't actually measure the distance it travelled or the time it took today because we just wanted to make sure that the angle for the cup holding the ball was right. We glued on the cup and the triangle that it sits on today, after making sure we were satisfied with everything. The wheels have also been made and attached. We also decided to spray some grease on the join between the washers on the arm and the nut, to ensure that the least possible amount of energy is lost due to friction.
The only issue that we are currently having is that unless it is set up with a lot of care, the weight will hit the sides. This means that it doesn't swing completely, and loses a lot of force and energy on the impact. However, this shouldn't be a problem on testing day, because now that we know it happens we can take care in making sure that it doesn't happen on the day.
Below is an image of our completed trebuchet.
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