Elaine Harmon wrote: > Hi guys, here's another one: with all these complicating factors of wind, > current, boat design... can we always say that the most energy-efficient > route from one point to another (assuming homogeneous conditions, of > course) is in a straight over-the-ground course between the 2 points? It > seems intuitively that it should be so, but on further thought not > obvious. How about it, you physicists out there? e Oh-oh!! Sounds like another brachistochrone problem! Can this result in the invention of a form of mathematics more intimidating than the calculus of variations? Where are the Newtons, Liebnitzs, Bernoullis? Gak, where is Inverbon? Mike Actually, David Burch's book on kayak navigation covers wind and current effects on the paddler and how to "best" handle them. However, I don't think it's worked out on the basis of a minimum energy path. Note that minimum energy path isn't necessarily the same as minimum time or minimum paddle force, so it may not always be appropriate for all paddlers. For example, minimum energy requiring a really high stroke force for a short period (i.e. a _hard_ sprint) may be outside the abilities of all but an Olympic class paddler. Energy is always harder to work with than force or momentum. Too many sources of energy loss to mess up the calculations. My years of engineering etc tells me not to touch this one and just enjoy the paddling. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Sun Oct 03 1999 - 00:24:21 PDT
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