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Impact or Science in Bow Hunting
Bow hunting is a calming yet satisfying sport. In this assignment, I will
demonstrate some understanding of how Gravity, momentum, and air resistance
affects the sport, how it has changed through out history, and how all three of
Newton laws can be applied to the sport of Bow Hunting.
The bow and arrow is one of the
oldest used projectile weapons in
history. It been used as far back as
30,000 years B.C.E, and through out
the middle ages and time.
Specifically, being used for hunting.
In modern times, the bow’s design
has been improved and so has the arrows. There are two bows that will be
mentioned, the English Longbow and the Compound bow, first the differences.
The Long bow features a simple design, a 72-inch wooden limb with a silk or
hemp string, while the Compound bow features a 32-inch metal alloy limb, and a
polyester string. Because it was created during modern times The compound bow
feature a levering system, usually of cables and pulleys,
to bend the limbs. Because of these pulleys, it is easier
to maximize the energy storage through out the draw
cycle, which means there is less holding weight at full
draw than a common English longbow. This was a
problem as back than as a full grown man had trouble
holding a fully drawn bow for more than 5 seconds, and
as of now its much easier to do so.
This is due to the change of leverage and mechanical
advantage and because of this, the compound bow shoots further, harder, and
faster. The compound bow is now used when hunting, instead of the normal long
bow, because it is easier to use. A number of attachments can be added to the
compound bow while the normal longbow doesn’t feature any attachments. The
traditional longbow is made form common woods found in the area, while the
modern compound bow is made from metal alloy which increases its resistance to
temperatures. Because of this it gives the compound bow a more superior
accuracy, velocity, and distance than bows like the long bow which is made from
natural materials.
There are three key factors which affects bow hunting; gravity, momentum, and
air resistance, I will first talk about gravity. On Earth gravity gives weight to
physical objects and causes the tides. The acceleration of gravity is 9.8 m/s2
downward, this affects how far the shooter will have to aim up in order for the
arrow to hit its target, in this case the deer. The very instant the arrow has been
shot from the bow it begins to accelerate towards the ground, but first rises
above the ground. All arrows when shot fly in a “arch” hence the name archery, it
begins its flight in an upward angle, hits its peek, and begins to arch its way down
until it either hits the ground or its target. The longer it is in flight the faster it will
take to fall towards the earth. If you compare a 326 and a 580 grain arrow fall
when shooting from 20m, the
580 grain arrow will have the
most drop. This isn’t dude to air
resistance as they both
experience the same initial
resistance, but because the 580
grain arrow is much heavier it
will be much slower when flying.
Because of this the arrow had
more time to accelerate towards
the earth than the lighter and
faster arrow.
The momentum of an object is determined by its product of its mass times it
velocity. Velocity is used instead of speed because momentum is a vector
quantity, because it is its speed of the object and direction times its mass.
Momentum is calculated using the formula:
But there is a different formula used when talking about arrows:
When the arrow first leaves the bow, its mass continues to have an affect other
than its initial velocity. Using Newton’s second law F=MA, we can show that the
force (air resistance) is directly proportional
to the mass of the arrow and how quickly it
slows down. Because of this the heavier
arrow will begin with more energy and
momentum and will stay with a higher
percentage of its energy and momentum
downrange. When the arrow hits the deer,
it loses all of it momentum and energy, and
encounter more resistance from fluid, flesh
and bone due to friction. Which will be much higher than the air resistance
slowing or stopping the arrow on hit. The higher the momentum the higher the
penetration potential of the arrow.
All three of newton’s laws can be described when bow hunting. Inertia plays a
part of shooting a bow, and has been used to the shooters advantage thanks to
modern times. A stabilizer is a term for weights which is added to a compound
bow which increases stability. It helps reduce movement on release by increasing
the moment of Inertia of the bow. Because of this it minimizes a sort of
movement after each shot, which than makes the hunter more precise if he/she
needs to retake a shot.
Now for Newton’s third law:
“For every action there is an
equal but opposite reaction. “
This comes in terms when using a
bow, as when your pulling on the
bow string as an action, the bow string will spring back forward as a reaction. In
order to make the arrow move forward, your going to have to pull the string and
let go. When you do that you feel the reaction force on your hand, if you don’t
prepare against it, the force will stagger you making you miss your shot.
In conclusion modern times has been nothing but beneficial to bow hunting as it
has made it far more useful than ever before. Because of this the bow it self has
revolutionized in a way which makes it much easier to deliver a killing shot and
much easier to actually hit our target. This also comes in terms with Newton’s
laws as we use inertia to our advantage by adding stabilizers for increase
precision, and for calculating the penetrating potential of an arrow by findings its
momentum or kinetic energy.
Bibliography
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Approach." Kinetic Energy, Momentum and Arrows: A
Simplified Approach. Web. 3 Nov. 2015.
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4. Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 3 Nov. 2015.
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Motion. Web. 3 Nov. 2015.
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Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 3 Nov. 2015.
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