Make a powerful popsicle stick catapult with ping pong balls
To make a Mighty Popsicle Stick Catapult with a ping pong ball, you can refer to the following steps:
Material Preparation
Popsicle sticks: about 20 - 30 sticks, make sure they are clean and undamaged.
Rubber bands: several, of different thicknesses, with the thicker bands providing the main elasticity and the thinner bands being used to hold them in place.
Table tennis ball: 1.
Scissors: to trim the popsicle sticks or rubber bands.
Glue or hot melt glue gun: to secure the parts more firmly (optional).
Steps
Build the base frame
Take 4 popsicle sticks and place them two by two parallel to each other with a certain distance in between (about 1 - 2 cm). Use thin rubber bands to tie them at both ends to form a rectangular base frame. This frame will serve as the main support for the catapult.
Making the catapult arm
Take 3 - 4 popsicle sticks, align them at one end, and tightly wrap and tie them together with rubber bands to form a thicker bundle of popsicle sticks, which will be the catapult arm. Make sure the bundle is securely tied to withstand the force of ejection.
Attach the other end of the ejection arm to the middle of one side of the foundation frame. This can be done by placing a short popsicle stick in the middle of the frame as the attachment point, then using rubber bands to tie the ejection arm to this short popsicle stick and the frame so that the ejection arm can move up and down on the axis of the attachment point.
Rubber band power system installation
Take a thicker rubber band and secure one end to one edge of the base frame (you can wrap the rubber band around the popsicle stick at the edge of the frame and tie a dead knot to secure it).
Pull the other end of the thick rubber band to the middle of the ejection arm and secure it to the ejection arm with a thin rubber band. This way, when the ejector arm is pulled backwards, the thick rubber band is stretched, storing elastic potential energy.
Table Tennis Ball Launcher Making
Take two popsicle sticks and tie them together at one end with a thin rubber band to form a clip-like structure. The opening of the clip should be large enough to easily hold a ping pong ball.
Attach this clip structure to the front of the ejector arm. It can be securely attached or tied to the ejector arm with glue or more thin rubber bands to ensure that the ping pong ball does not fall off during launch.
Testing and Adjustment
Place the ping pong ball in the clip and pull back on the ejector arm to feel the elasticity of the rubber bands and observe the overall stability of the ejector. If you find that a part is loose, reinforce it with glue or add rubber bands.
Conduct several test firings and adjust the tension of the rubber bands (e.g. replace the rubber bands with different thicknesses or adjust the fixed position of the rubber bands on the ejector arm) and the angle of the clips according to the ejection distance and direction of the table tennis ball in order to achieve the best ejection effect.
Through the above steps, a popsicle stick catapult with ping pong balls is finished. When playing, pay attention to safety to avoid hurting others with the ejected ping pong balls.
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