On a trebuchet, how does increasing the mass of the counterweight affect the how far it can launch an object?

Question

Does increasing mass increase speed of projectile?
Does increasing mass increase distance forever?
How does the increased force from the added mass transfer throughout the entire system?

Answer 1

The counterweight falls faster if its weight is increased, but there is a limit. The counterweight can never accelerate faster than the acceleration of gravity (9.8 m/s^). This limit is approached (at initial decent from the horizontal position) if the torque about the pivot due to the counterweight arm (weight times distance from its center of mas to the pivot point) becomes very large compared to that of the projectile. The acceleration then falls off as cosine theta as the weight falls from the horizontal postion.

Answer 2

In terms of real world performance, not physics, increasing the counterweight mass will result in a flatter trajectory, which may offset some of the increase in range due to the increase in velocity.