Chapter 4

NEWTON’S 3rd LAW OF MOTION

Action – Reaction Pairs Examples

Figures from OpenStax College, ancillaries to College Physics. OpenStax College. 21 June 2012.
http://cnx.org/content/col11406/latest/, licensed under a CC 4.0 International License, unless otherwise specified.
 Newton’s 3rd Law

• For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

“NewtonsLawOfUniversalGravitation.svg;” by Dna-Dennis derivative work: Onio72 (talk)) [CC BY 3.0 Unported]

Example 1 – swimmer pushing on a wall
Example 2 – Person pushing a cart
 Check Your Understanding 1
While driving down the road, a firefly strikes
the windshield of a bus and makes a quite
obvious mess in front of the face of the driver.
The firefly hit the bus and the bus hits the
firefly.

Which of the two forces is greater: the force on

the firefly or the force on the bus?

http://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/newtlaws/u2l4a.cfm
 Check Your Understanding 1 - Answer
The forces are equal! For every action, there is an equal
reaction. The fact that the firefly splatters only means that
with its smaller mass, it is less able to withstand the larger
acceleration resulting from the interaction.

http://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/newtlaws/u2l4a.cfm
 Check Your Understanding 2
A rifle recoils when it is fired as a result of action-reaction
force pairs. A gunpowder explosion creates hot gases that
expand outward allowing the rifle to push forward on the
bullet. The bullet pushes backwards upon the rifle. The
acceleration of the recoiling rifle when compared with that
of the bullet is:
a. greater.
b. smaller.
c. the same.

http://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/newtlaws/u2l4a.cfm
 Check Your Understanding 2 - Answer
Correct Answer: B
The force on the rifle equals the force on the bullet. Yet,
acceleration depends on both force and mass.
𝐹Ԧ = 𝑚𝑎Ԧ
The bullet has a greater acceleration due to the fact that it
has a smaller mass.

http://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/newtlaws/u2l4a.cfm