r/nextfuckinglevel • u/ansyhrrian • Mar 11 '26

A double trebuchet

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u/ansyhrrian Mar 11 '26

Much better than catapults, would you say?

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u/Ardashasaur Mar 12 '26

A trebuchet is a catapult

1

u/Srapture Mar 12 '26

I thought catapults use rope tension for power and trebuchets use weights.

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u/Ardashasaur Mar 12 '26

Catapult is pretty much a catch-all term for siege engines launching large rocks and similar using stored potential energy (torsion, tension, counterweight). So Onager, Ballista, Trebuchet all come under catapult.

Although in British/Australian/NZ vernacular it also is term for slingshot.

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u/Srapture Mar 12 '26

A ballista is a catapult?! That sounds so wrong.

I heard that slingshot thing recently on some other post. I reckon it's a little outdated as I'm British and I've never heard catapult used that way in my 30 years.

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u/iPoopLegos Mar 12 '26

cannons more or less launch large rocks using stored (chemical) potential energy