Work, Energy, and Efficiency of a Recurve Bow

Abstract

The shooting of a recurve bow was varied in two ways, changing draw distance and string length, to determine the relationship between work done in drawing the bowstring and the resulting kinetic energy of the arrow. It was shown that the kinetic energy of the arrow launched increases as the work on the string increases, with the efficiency decreasing as work increases, giving similar results to Allain’s investigation of a longbow.

Keywords

• bow
• arrow
• work
• kinetic energy
• efficiency