Archer's Paradox

Have you ever tried to fire a bow and arrow? I've tried once or twice in my life on a purely recreational level and I wasn't very good at all. Still, I remember it being very satisfying when you, after shooting dozens of arrows, finally manage to land an arrow somewhere near the bulls-eye of the target.

_{source: Pixabay}

I was just a teenager back then and didn't know anything about archery, and frankly I still don't. So this won't be an in-depth study about the history or all of the physics involved with this ancient weapon. I would however like to share with you a video I stumbled upon a while back, a video that renewed my interest in the sport, as well as increased my admiration for professional archers who manage to almost never miss their intended target. The title of the video had in it a word that usually manages to draw my attention: "paradox."

A paradox is a statement that leads to an apparently-self-contradictory or logically unacceptable conclusion. (Wikipedia) One of the more well known paradoxes is this sentence: "This statement is false." There's a mind-bender for you ;-) I love these little covert contradictions in life. And it so happens that firing a bow and arrow presents us with a very interesting paradox of it's own. I never realized this before, but for the arrow to fly straight at the target is actually impossible... You see, when firing the arrow, the bow is actually in the way!

You'd think that the straight arrow just slides past the bow, but this is not the case at all; the arrows in reality bend slightly around the bow. I was flabbergasted (love that word) to learn that a master archer actually chooses his or her arrows very carefully, as the amount of bending, called the "spine" of the arrow, needs to be precisely right for the arrow to bend around the bow in just the right way. The archer in the video is such a professional, and with the help of clarifying super-slow-motion imagery he explains exactly how it's done; he even manages to shoot an aspirin pill in free flight... and hit it! So, without further ado, please enjoy The Archer's Paradox in SLOW MOTION:

_{The Archer's Paradox in SLOW MOTION}

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