How does the trebuchet demonstrate Newton's 1st Law of Motion?

Question

i have to do this project for 8th grade science and i have to denow how the trebuchet demonstrates all newton's 3 laws.

Answer 1

Newton's Laws
(1) A body at rest remains at rest - a body in motion continues with constant speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an external force.

(2) an applied force, F, on an object equals the time rate of change of its momentum, p ...

often written as Force = mass X acceleration

F = ma

(3) To every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

Now consider the trebuchet (see picture in wiki)

It is a medieval seige engine designed for hurling huge boulders or dead bodies or so forth into the ranks of the enemy or into/over the walls of a fortress.

It's wound up, loaded and ready to go.

The boulder, mass m, sits there with no force acting on it (I guess there's gravity but that just holds it to the ground in this scenario). A body at rest remains at rest. If there were no gravity, no other forces, the boulder would just stay there too.

Fire the trebuchet. The force of the sling and catapult arm drags the boulder up and around and shoots it off at a trajectory some degrees above horizontal. The boulder flies off in a curve - not a straight line. Why is this?

What would happen if there was no gravity?

What happens to the trebuchet?

What would happen to the trebuchet if it were fired in space?