Sunday, August 20, 2017

newtonian mechanics - Why do archery arrows tilt downwards in their descent?


In the movies, arrows shot into the air rotate so that during the descent, the arrow head hits ground first. What is the source of this angular momentum? It would seem that the bow string exerts a force directly in line with the arrow.



Answer



The same reason objects which are heavier on one side tend to fall with the heavy side down: the tip of the arrow is denser than the rest of the arrow. The center of gravity is offset from its geometrical center, so the air drag, which is based on the object's geometry, causes a torque together with gravity as seen in this very professional picture of a body falling straight down. torque


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