Physics · the experiment
Scull the boat to its top speed
You hold the single oar at the stern of the 4.74 m test boat. Make the blade work, flip it fast enough to set the water moving, then push the hull up to the speed where its own waves stop it.
1 · Make the blade fly
Beginner
During the sweeps from one side to the other, what pushes the boat?
2 · Flip the blade hard
Intermediate
Same blade, same cylinder of water, but an acceleration of 3 m/s². What added-mass force?
At each twist, the blade faces the flow and drags along the cylinder of water around it. Set its acceleration to match the authors' estimate, about 70 N.
3 · Count the useful power
Intermediate
At 1.2 m/s, the mean thrust on the blade is 19.4 N. How much power does the oar deliver to the boat?
4 · Push up to the wave wall
Expert
With a hull twice as long, at about what speed would that same Froude number of 0.35 be reached?
The scullers topped out when the hull's Froude number, Fr = U/√(gL), reached 0.35. Speed the boat up to that point.
Boat sculled
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