Re: [Paddlewise] Paddle efficiency

Comments on the exchange below.

Michael Edelman wrote:

> We're almost all in agreement. Just a few more details ;-)
>
> John says:
>
> > Nick says: > > As long as you move the paddle parallel to the direction of motion
> > > > desired all the force applied will go directly to propelling the
> > > > boat.
> >
> > Nick is right although I doubt if anyone actually accomplishes this
> > regularly. I suspect Nick mentioned this elsewhere as I recall him
> > discussing it some time back.
> >
>
> There's still an error here. You can't assume all force applied goes
> into forward movement of the boat. No paddle or propellor is 100%
> efficient at turning effort into forward motion, and indeed,  John in
> the following paragraph quotes a study stating that racing paddles are
> 87% efficient which contradicts the prior claim.

Nick would have been perfectly correct, and I think he meant to say that "all the force
that is in the direction of the motion desired will  go directly to propelling the
boat."  This is required to satisfy Newton's  "theories" of motion.  Of course, force
is not the same thing as power.  While the force will go into propelling the boat, some
of the power used to generate that force will be lost.  This is where the
inefficiencies come in.

Regards,

Dave Carlson

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