Resumen de Optimum Onager: The Classical Mechanics of a Classical Siege Engine
The onager is a throwing weapon of classical antiquity, familiar to both the ancient Greeks and Romans. Here we analyze the dynamics of onager operation and derive the optimum angle for launching a projectile to its maximum range. There is plenty of scope for further considerations about increasing onager range, and so by thinking about how this machine might be improved, a student can gain insight beyond the equations of motion and can test hypotheses on readily available working models. Some of these performance improvements are considered in this paper.
