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In: 6
Since you’re five (or not)…
Water is really good at pushing things (because it’s a fluid that you can put under pressure but doesn’t shrink in size much if at all). Steam has that same ability to push things, but is much better at moving quickly in pipes and heating water to make steam is an easy way to add energy for pushing (pressure, up to 236 kg [520 lbs for fellow americans] of pressure *per square inch* in this system).
When the steam is released, it moves into the pushing pipe rapidly. It’s under a lot of pressure and has a lot of energy (the piston diameter is 18″ and π* r* r means the surface area of the piston is probably 254 sq in so it’s pushing with ~60,000 kg [~132,000 lbs] of force) and the airplane is free to roll forward. Given that the catapult is pushing 4 times harder than the airplane weighs, and it’s doing it for up to 250 feet, it’s going to go really fast somewhere.
Edit: sorry about mixing kg and sq in.
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