Introduction

Photo: Bow Emblem

https://pixabay.com/en/arrow-bow-archery-archer-297108/

Page: November 19th, 2016 by Jacob Peeples

For the system above the friction forces are as depicted. It is important to note that the force which holds the bow up right is in majority a static friction force. This can change depending on the shape of the grip for any given bow but if we assume a cylindrical handle with no over hang then the upward force at full draw comes entirely from friction. The maximum force this friction can be will be equal to the product of the draw weight and the friction coefficient. Why the frictional force can be no larger than this value will be explained in "The Archer:Full Draw".

Friction forces are developed when two objects are in contact with some force keeping them together. The magnitude of the frictional force is dependent on the force which pushes the two objects together. Mathematically this can expressed for two dimensional problems as the product of magnitude of the perpendicular component of the force and a frictional constant that can be experimentally determined.