Serway & Jewett — Rotation of a Rigid Object about a Fixed Axis: Problem 26

A war-wolf or trebuchet is a device used during the Middle Ages to throw rocks at castles and now sometimes used to fling large vegetables and pianos as a sport. A simple trebuchet is shown in Figure P10.26. Model it as a stiff rod of negligible mass, 3.00 m long, joining particles of mass \(m_1 = 0.120\text{ kg}\) and \(m_2 = 60.0\text{ kg}\) at its ends. It can turn on a frictionless, horizontal axle perpendicular to the rod and 14.0 cm from the large-mass particle. The operator releases the trebuchet from rest in a horizontal orientation. (a) Find the maximum speed that the small-mass object attains. (b) While the small-mass object is gaining speed, does it move with constant acceleration? (c) Does it move with constant tangential acceleration? (d) Does the trebuchet move with constant angular acceleration? (e) Does it have constant momentum? (f) Does the trebuchet–Earth system have constant mechanical energy?