Newton’s Third Law

Action and Reaction

Newton's 3rd law of motion
 Whenever one object exerts a force on a
second object, the second object exerts an
equal and opposite force on the first object.
or
 To every action there is an equal opposing
reaction
Action - Reaction

 Forces always exist in pairs

 The two objects that interact are called
“Action-Reaction Pairs”
 One force is called the action force
 The other force is called the reaction force
 The two forces act simultaneously
Forces act differently on different objects

 But just because equal forces are acting

in different directions, that doesn’t mean
everything is in equilibrium
Difference between 2nd and 3rd Law
2nd law 3rd law
 Forces act on a single  2 equal forces acting
object. on 2 different objects.
 Net Force act on an  The direction of the
object to accelerate it. forces are opposite all
the time.
 Forces act in pair

F action = F reaction
Light Bulb Moment
 If all forces have equal and opposing forces,
how does anything move?
 Action-Reaction pairs are forces of objects on
different objects
 Net Force is sum of external forces acting on
ONE object