High School Physics : Understanding Newton's Third Law

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for High School Physics

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Example Question #333 : High School Physics

Basic Computational 

 

A rock strikes a window with  of force. How much force does that window exert on the rock?

 

Possible Answers:

 We need to know how long the two were in contact to solve

 We need to know the mass of the rock to solve

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Newton's third law states that when one body exerts a force on another body, the second body exerts a force equal in magnitude, but opposite in direction, on the first body.

 

Mathematically, this process can be written as:

 

 

Since the rock exerts  of force on the window, then the window must exert  of force on the rock.

 

Example Question #334 : High School Physics

A boy falls out of a tree and hits the ground with  of force. How much force does the ground exert on the boy?

Possible Answers:

We must know the mass of the boy to solve

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Newton's third law states that when one object exerts a force on another object, that second object exerts a force of equal magnitude, but opposite in direction on the first.

 

That means that:

 

 

Using the value from the question, we can find the force of the ground on the boy.

 

 

 

 

 

Example Question #331 : High School Physics

Conceptual

 

If you exert a force F on an object, the force which the object exerts on you will

 

Possible Answers:

Always be F

 Depend on the relative masses of you and the object

 Depend on whether or not you are moving

Depend on whether or not the object is moving

Correct answer:

Always be F

Explanation:

According to Newton’s 3rd Law of Motion, the force that is exert by object A onto object B is equal in magnitude and opposite in direction to the force that is exerted by object B onto object A.  It is not dependent on the mass or motion of the object.

 

Example Question #336 : High School Physics

An object of mass m sits on a flat table.  The Earth pulls on the object with force mg, which is the action force.  What is the reaction force?

Possible Answers:

 The object pulling upward on the earth with force 

 The object pushing down on the table with force 

 The table pushing down on the floor with 

The table pushing up on the object with force 

Correct answer:

 The object pulling upward on the earth with force 

Explanation:

There is a common misconception that the force that Earth pulls on the object is balanced by a reaction force of the table pushing up on the object.  Though it is true that the magnitude between these forces are the same, they are not considered action reaction pairs.  

 

According to Newton’s 3rd law the force with which object A acts on object B is equal and opposite to the force that object B acts on object A.  In this case the initial force is the Earth pulling on the object.  Therefore the pair would be the object pulling on the Earth.

 

If we consider the table we are adding a third object to the mix, which cannot be an action reaction pair.  Therefore the normal force and the force of gravity are never considered action reaction pairs as they are two different forces acting on the same object.

 

Example Question #337 : High School Physics

A ball is suspended from the ceiling by means of string.  The Earth pulls downward on the ball with its weight force of .  If this is the action force, what is the reaction force?

Possible Answers:

The ceiling pulling upward on the string with a  force

 The string pulling downward on the ceiling with a  force

 The ball pulling upward on the earth with a  force

The string pulling upward on the ball with a  force

Correct answer:

 The ball pulling upward on the earth with a  force

Explanation:

There is a common misconception that the force that Earth pulls on the object is balanced by a reaction force of the string pulling upward on the object.  Though it is true that the magnitude between these forces are the same, they are not considered action reaction pairs.  

 

According to Newton’s 3rd law the force with which object A acts on object B is equal and opposite to the force that object B acts on object A.  In this case the initial force is the Earth pulling on the object.  Therefore the pair would be the object pulling on the Earth.

 

If we consider the table we are adding a third object to the mix, which cannot be an action reaction pair.  Therefore the tension force and the force of gravity are never considered action reaction pairs as they are two different forces acting on the same object. 

Example Question #338 : High School Physics

 Two skaters push off of each other in the middle of an ice rink. If one skater has a mass of  and an acceleration of , what is the acceleration of the other skater if her mass is ?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

For this problem, we'll use Newton's third law, which states that for every force there will be another force equal in magnitude, but opposite in direction.

 

This means that the force of the first skater on the second will be equal in magnitude, but opposite in direction:

 

 

Use Newton's second law to expand this equation.

 

 

We are given the mass of each skater and the acceleration of the first. Using these values, we can solve for the acceleration of the second.

 

 

From here, we need to isolate the acceleration of the second skater.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Notice that the acceleration of the second skater is negative. Since she is moving in the opposite direction of the first skater, one acceleration will be positive while the other will be negative as acceleration is a vector.

 

 

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