How fast can a rubber speargun band contract, and what (if any) limitations would that place on gun design?
My thinking goes like this. Suppose I am pushing my kid in a wagon. No matter how big or strong I am, (or how big or small my kid) that wagon will never go faster than I can run. I can get three friends to help me, and we might get the wagon up to to speed sooner, but it will still never go faster than we can run. All the extra strength of my three friends is wasted, because the limit is how fast we can run.
So I was wondering. There must be some maximum speed at which a speargun band can contract. So at some point, adding more bands to a gun might not increase the shaft speed at all. Or, moving in the opposite direction, using a lighter shaft might not result in any additional speed.
Anyone ever seen info on how fast a rubber band can contract?
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Short answer is speed of spear will never be faster or equal to band speed. The mass displaced of a band contracting alone is almost negligible compared to pushing a spear. F=ma, F is constant on a stretched band at a given distance. On a band alone m is very very small so a is almost infinte, compared to a with spear of mass m. Integrate over the distance of the band pull and velocity will be almost infinite with a band alone.
Now add some reality i.e. drag, friction, cavitation, etc and band speed will still be super fast.
On a rubber band F=kx, where k is a spring constant, x is the distance displaced, so a band exerts force as long as it is stretched, F>0 always until it reaches its unstretched length. On human running F=ma, you can't push your kid any faster because your top speed is constant hence a=0 then F=0.
The second your a=0 and velocity is max is like a band stopping at its length. Your analogy applies up to this point, you are like a band. Your velocity is limited by your strength and mass, a bands velocity is limited by how far it is stretched, mass, and its spring constant.
Distanced stretched and spring constant are "constant" on a spear gun. So again with a lighter mass you will get a higher velocity.
If shafts didn't whip I'm sure everybody would be using smaller diameter shafts.