Science

Grade 8 • Unit 2: Newton’s Laws of Motion

LESSON 2.2
The Third Law of Motion
Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Learning Competency 2

Learning Objectives 2

Warm-Up 2

Learn about It 4
Stating Newton’s Third Law 4

Examples 6

Key Points 7

Check Your Understanding 8

Bibliography 9

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Grade 8 • Unit 2: Newton’s Laws of Motion

Lesson 2.2
The Third Law of Motion

Hammering a nail involves action-reaction forces.

Introduction
In the previous lessons, we qualitatively and quantitatively described how forces affect the
motion of an object. With these, however, we are left with the question where do forces
come from? Based on our examples, we can observe that force is always applied to an
object by another object. For instance, a person moving a box, or perhaps a hammer hitting
a nail. In this lesson, how objects interact with one another through forces will be discussed.
You will learn how these forces work as pairs in every situation.

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Grade 8 • Unit 2: Newton’s Laws of Motion

Learning Competency
At the end of this lesson, the given DepEd learning competency should be met
by the students.
● Infer that when a body exerts a force on another, an equal amount of
force is exerted back on it (S8FE-Ia-16).

Learning Objectives
In this lesson, you should be able to do the following:
● State Newton’s third law of motion.
● Infer that when a body exerts a force on another, an equal amount of
force is exerted back on it.
● Determine the conditions for a force pair to be considered as
action-reaction forces.

Warm-Up

Interaction between Marbles

Materials
● marbles
● meter sticks

Procedure
1. Place two meter sticks on a flat surface parallel to each other with a gap between
them enough to snugly hold marbles from side to side.
2. Place five marbles or more on the gap between the two meter sticks, as shown in the

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Grade 8 • Unit 2: Newton’s Laws of Motion

figure below. See to it that the meter sticks will hold them in a straight line.

3. Push the last marble in line so that it will collide with the next marble. Make sure that
you push it with a sufficient amount of force.
4. Observe what happens to the marbles.

Guide Questions
1. What happened when the last marble collided with the next marble?
__________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________

2. How many marbles moved when you pushed the last marble in line? Why do you
think this happened?
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__________________________________________________________________________________________

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Grade 8 • Unit 2: Newton’s Laws of Motion

3. Based on your observations, was force only exerted by the last marble? Or did the
next marble also exert force?
__________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Learn about It

Stating Newton’s Third Law

Newton’s third law of motion explains how objects interact with each other in terms of
forces.

When an object exerts a force on a second object, the second object exerts an equal force
acting in the opposite direction on the first object.

Newton’s third law is often paraphrased as “for every action, there is an equal and opposite
reaction”. Hence, this law is also known as the law of interaction.

When a force acts upon an object, another force with an equal magnitude but in the
opposite direction reacts. Thus, the law of interaction tells us that forces always come in
pairs. This pair of forces that acts and reacts is also referred to as action-and-reaction
forces.

Essential Question
What are the characteristics for a pair of forces to be considered as an
action-reaction pair of forces?

It is important to note that these forces act at the same time. That is, the reaction force does
not wait until the action force is exerted. For example, when you push a box across the floor,

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Grade 8 • Unit 2: Newton’s Laws of Motion

the box pushes you back simultaneously. As evidence for this, your hand is distorted as you
are pushing the box. This is clear proof that the box is exerting force on you, as you are
exerting a force on the box.

Consider our example in the previous lesson which shows a book lying at rest on a table.
What are the action and reaction forces in the following figure?

Fig. 1. Interaction between action and reaction forces

Due to its weight, the book exerts a force on the table. In return, the table reacts by applying
a force on the book that is equal in magnitude but opposite in direction. Note, however, that
the action and reaction forces do not cancel each other. These forces are exerted on
different objects. In the previous lesson, we identified the forces that are exerted on the
book. In this example, we identified the force exerted by the book, and the force exerted on
it.

Remember
The action-and-reaction forces are acted at the same time, on different
objects.

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Grade 8 • Unit 2: Newton’s Laws of Motion

Examples
Newton’s third law of motion is well-observed and applied in our everyday activities. Let us
take a look at some examples.

How Can a Car Go Forward?

The engine is responsible for making the wheels go around. However, the science behind
how a car moves forward is explained by Newton’s third law. Because of friction, the wheels
push back against the ground. Under Newton’s third law, the ground pushes the wheels in
the opposite direction. Hence, allowing the car to go forward.

Fig. 2. Action and reaction forces between the wheels and the ground

The same principle also applies when we are walking. We can walk forward because our feet
push backward against the ground and the ground pushes our feet forward.

Launching a Rocket
Another example where Newton’s third law is manifested is on a rocket launch. We might
think that a rocket accelerates because of the propelling gases that push against the
ground. This is not accurate. A rocket engine exerts a strong downward force on the gases.
By Newton’s third law, the gases exert a similar and opposite on the rocket. Thus, allowing
the rocket to propel forward.

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Fig. 3. Launching a rocket

Key Points

● Forces always come in pairs.

● Newton’s third law states that when an object exerts a force on a second object, the
second object exerts an equal force in the opposite direction on the first object.
● For the pair of forces to be considered as action-reaction forces, they must be
acting simultaneously with the same magnitude in opposite directions and on
two different bodies.

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Grade 8 • Unit 2: Newton’s Laws of Motion

Check Your Understanding

A. Identify the other force on the following action-reaction force pair.

1. A hammer hits a nail.

Answer: __________________________________________________________________________
2. A bowling ball pushes a pin rightwards.
Answer: __________________________________________________________________________
3. Wind pushes on a window.
Answer: __________________________________________________________________________
4. A horse pulling a wagon forward.
Answer: __________________________________________________________________________
5. A person pushing a wall.
Answer: __________________________________________________________________________

B. Identify at least five pairs of action-reaction forces in the following diagram.

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Bibliography

Giancoli, Douglas C. Physics: Principles With Applications, 6th Edition. Jurong, Singapore:
Pearson Education, Inc., 2007.

Hewitt, Paul G. Conceptual Physics, 11th Edition. New York: Pearson Education, 2010.

“Newton’s Laws of Motion.” National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Accessed

March 3, 2022.
https://www1.grc.nasa.gov/beginners-guide-to-aeronautics/newtons-laws-of-motion/.

Young, H. and Freedman, R. Sears and Zemansky's University Physics with Modern Physics,
12th Edition. USA: Pearson Education, 2008.