Winter Break Homework Worksheet 2

Topics:
Newton’s Third Law
1. Billy is sitting in a chair in class. If the action force is the downward push of his weight on the
chair, what is the reaction force?

A. the upward force of the Earth on Billy

B. there is no reaction force
C. the downward force of Billy's weight on the Earth
D. the upward force of the chair pushing on Billy

2. Krista is playing tennis at the park. When the tennis ball flies toward her, Krista hits the ball
with her racket, which causes the ball to fly in the opposite direction.

According to Newton's third law of motion, which of the following is true?

When the racket hits the tennis ball with a force, the ball does not apply any reaction force
A.
to the racket.
When the racket hits the tennis ball with a force, the ball applies an equal force in the
B.
same direction as the racket's force.
When the racket hits the tennis ball with a force, the tennis ball applies an equal but
C.
opposite force to the racket.
When the racket hits the tennis ball with a force, the ball applies a much weaker force in
D.
the opposite direction of the racket's force.

3. Tom is teaching Jenny how to ice skate. Both skaters, who are about the same size, are on the
ice and wearing their skates. To help Jenny get started, Tom gives her a gentle push from behind.
Which of the following best describes what will happen next?

A. Jenny will move backward, and Tom will move forward.

B. Jenny will move forward, and Tom will move backward.

C. Jenny will move forward, and Tom will not move.

D. Jenny will not move, and Tom will move backward.

4. Debbie is an engineer who designs safety features to protect drivers in rear-end collisions. She
has developed a new system that allows the front end of an automobile to bend or crumple
during any head-on collision, thereby reducing the rate of deceleration experienced by the driver.
The safety system is known as a front-end crumple zone.

Suppose a rear-end automobile collision occurs between the two cars illustrated below. The
orange car was waiting at a light with its brakes locked when the blue car collided with it from
behind. The blue car had Debbie's front-end crumple zone system installed, which helped reduce
part of the force of the collision.

What is an additional safety feature that could have helped to reduce the force felt by the drivers
of both cars even more?
A. a rear-end crumple zone installed in the blue car
B. a locking brake system installed in the orange car, preventing its wheels from moving
C. a front-end crumple zone installed in the orange car
D. a rear-end crumple zone installed in the orange car

5. Simone builds a simple spinning engine by inserting straws through holes in a plastic cup. She
then suspends the cup from a metal pole using string. After Simone pours water into the cup, the
water rushes out of the straws in the direction that the straws are pointed and the cup spins, as
shown in the picture below.

Which of the following is true about the force acting on the cup and causing it to spin?
It is smaller in magnitude and in the same direction as the force pushing the water out of
A.
the straws.
It is equal in magnitude but opposite in direction to the force pushing the water out of the
B.
straws.
It is equal in magnitude and in the same direction as the force pushing the water out of the
C.
straws.
D. It is smaller in magnitude but opposite in direction to the force pushing the water out of
 the straws.

6. As Clinton walks he pushes his shoe against the track.

which of the following best describes the reaction force to clinton's shoe pushing against the
track?
A. The track pushes against gravity with the same force.
B. The track pushes in a different direction with a different force.
C. The track pushes back on Clinton's shoe with the same force.
D. The track pushes in the same direction as Clinton's shoe with the same force.

7. Amyx is building a treehouse in his backyard. He notices that every time he strikes a nail with
the hammer, the hammer bounces back just a little bit as the nail goes farther into the wood. This
is because when the hammer strikes and exerts a force on a nail, the nail

A. is stuck and won't go any further into the wood.

B. creates a balanced force.
C. disperses the force of the impact throughout the wood.
D. exerts an equal and opposite force back on the hammer.

8. Newton's third law explains that for every action force there is an equal and opposite reaction
force. In the image below, the arrow represents the force of Earth pulling down on the book. This
is also called the force of gravity.
based on newton's third law and the force represented by the arrow, what is the reaction force in
this scenario?
A. The force of the book pulling down on the table.
B. The force of the table pushing up on the book.
C. The force of the book pulling up on Earth.
D. The force of the table pushing down on Earth.

9. Mr. Jenkins accidentally backed his car into a stationary light pole. The collision caused
damage to his car's bumper, trunk, and tail light. If the light pole was not moving, how did Mr.
Jenkins' car get damaged?

The light pole exerted ten times as much force on the car as the car exerted on the light
A.
pole.
The damage to Mr. Jenkins' car was caused by an outside force that was not exerted by the
B.
pole.
C. The light pole exerted the same force on the car that the car exerted on the light pole.
The car exerted ten times as much force on the light pole as the light pole exerted on the
D.
car.

10. Sara is sitting in the back seat as her father drives at a constant speed.

if sara's father presses on the brakes quickly slowing the car down, what slows Sara down?
A. air resistance on the outside of the car
B. the seat pushing forward on her
C. her seat belt pulling back on her
D. air resistance on the inside of the car

11. Mr. Jenkins accidentally backed his car into a stationary light pole. The collision caused
damage to his car's bumper, trunk, and tail light. What is one way the light pole could be
designed to help reduce the damage?

A. Modify the base of the pole so that the pole will not move upon impact with a vehicle.

B. Design the pole so that it can be placed much deeper into the ground to anchor it.

C. Modify the base of the pole so that the pole will break when hit with a certain force.
 D. Design the pole so that it is made out of a metal that is harder and of higher density.

12. Mr. Walters is launching a toy rocket.

The rocket experiences a force that pushes it up into the air. Which of the following statements is
true?
A. The rocket exerts an upward force on its fuel.
B. The exhaust gases of the rocket are shot downward with an equal force.
C. The air does not experience any force as the rocket passes through it.
D. The rocket has no mass, so it does not accelerate.

13. Bode made a rocket using an empty plastic bottle and fins made out of cardboard. After
partially filling the bottle with water, he pumps air into the bottle using a pump attached to the
rocket with plastic tubes. When the pressure in the bottle becomes high enough, the water gushes
out and launches the rocket into the air, as shown in the diagram below.

Image modified courtesy of NASA

How does the force that causes the water to leave the rocket compare to the force that causes the
rocket to launch?
A. They are equal and act in the same direction.
B. They are unequal and act in the same direction.
C. They are unequal and act in opposite directions.
D. They are equal and act in opposite directions.

14. A 10-gram rubber ball was launched at a wall several times. The speed of the ball was
measured after it hit the wall and bounced off. The force that the ball applied to the wall was also
measured. The table below shows the data collected during the investigation.

Force Investigation Data

Force on Wall Return Speed after Bounce
0.5 N 5 m/s
1.5 N 9 m/s
2.0 N 18 m/s

According to the data, what happens to the ball when it applies more force to the wall?
The wall pushes back on the ball with less force, which causes the return speed of the ball
A.
to decrease.
B. The ball's return speed decreases because the balanced forces cancel each other out.
The wall pushes back on the ball with more force, which causes the return speed of the
C.
ball to increase.
D. The ball's return speed increases because balanced forces cause motion.

15. Sara is playing billiards. She hits a white ball with a cue stick. The white ball then collides
with a blue ball. The blue ball moves forward, but the white ball stops just after the collision.
The motion of the balls is shown below.

Which of the following best describes why the white ball is motionless in the third picture?
Immediately after the collision, the white ball had a greater net force on it than the blue
A.
ball did, which made the white ball stop.
B. During the collision, the white ball pushed forward on the blue ball, and the blue ball was
 unable to exert a force back on the cue ball, so the white ball stopped.

During the collision, the blue ball pushed back on the white ball with an equal and
C.
opposite force that was great enough to stop the white ball.

Immediately after the collision, the white ball lost mass to the blue ball, which affected the
D.
gravity acting on the white ball and made it stop.

16. A driverless car collides head on with a stationary sign. The collision brings the car to a stop,
but does not move the sign.

Which design feature would have minimized the force of impact in the collision?
A. a car that can carry a greater mass of passengers and cargo
B. a sign that can withstand the force of a more massive car without moving
C. a car that can decelerate at a greater rate during collisions by not bending on impact
D. a sign that breaks loose from the ground when a force is applied to it

17. A balloon is inflated and then released as shown below.

image courtesy of nasa

when the balloon is released, air is pushed out by the balloon. which other force is acting that
demonstrates newton's third law of motion?
A. The air is pushing back on the balloon in the same direction.
B. The air is pushing back on the balloon in the opposite direction.
C. The weight of the balloon pushes it in the opposite direction.
D. Gravity is helping to move the balloon in the same direction.

18. A hockey player is wearing ice skates and pushes against the wall propelling her backward
on the ice. According to Newton's third law of motion, which of the following best compares the
forces acting between the wall and the hockey player?

A. The forces are equal and applied against gravity.

B. The forces are equal and applied in the same direction.
C. The forces are different sizes and applied in the opposite direction.
D. The forces are equal and applied in the opposite direction.

19.

Which explanation describes the forces involved for a person to walk down the sidewalk?
The person's feet push backward on the sidewalk; the sidewalk pushes forward on the
A.
person.
B. The person's feet push forward on the sidewalk; the sidewalk does not push on the person.
The person's feet push backward on the sidewalk; the sidewalk pushes backward on the
C.
person.
The person's feet push forward on the sidewalk; the sidewalk pushes forward on the
D.
person.

20. The image shows a tennis ball hitting a tennis racket.

according to newton's third law of motion, which of the following best describes the forces of the
tennis racket and the ball?
A. Both the tennis racket and the ball experience equal forces but in opposite directions.
B. Neither the tennis racket nor the ball experiences the force of gravity.
C. Both the tennis racket and the ball experience equal forces in the same direction.
D. The tennis racquet applies a greater force on the ball than the ball applies on the racket.

Answers Worksheet 2
1. D
2. C
3. B
4. D
5. B
6. C
7. D
8. B
9. C
10. C
11. C
12. B
13. D
14. C
15. C
16. D
17. B
18. D
19. A
20. A

Explanations
1. Newton's third law of motion states that "For every action there is an equal and opposite
reaction." If Billy's weight pushes downward on the chair, then the chair pushes upward on Billy.
2. Newton's third law of motion states that for every action there is an equal and opposite
reaction. Therefore, when Krista's racket hits the tennis ball with a force, the tennis ball
applies an equal but opposite force to the racket.

3. According to Newton's third law, for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

When Tom pushes Jenny forward, he exerts a force on her in the forward direction. At the same
time, Jenny exerts a force on Tom that is equal in magnitude but opposite in direction.

Therefore, Jenny will move forward and Tom will move backward.

4. According to Newton's third law of motion, whenever one object exerts a force on another
object, the second object exerts an equal force on the first object but in the opposite direction.
The diagram shows this for the rear-end collision between the blue car and the orange car. The
force of the collision is felt equally by each driver.

Debbie's front-end crumple zone design would only reduce part of the force of the collision.
Even more of the collision's force could be absorbed by installing a rear-end crumple zone in
the orange car. With both safety features in place, the overall force of the collision would be
reduced for both drivers.

5. The picture shows that the water rushes out of the straws in the clockwise direction and the
cup spins in the counterclockwise direction. The force pushing the water out of the straws is
equal and opposite to the force that causes the cup to spin. This demonstrates Newton's third law
of motion, which states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. In this case,
the force that causes the cup to spin is equal in magnitude but opposite in direction to the
force pushing the water out of the straws.

6. According to Newton's third law of motion, for every action force there is an equal and
opposite reaction force. In this case, the action force is Clinton's shoe pushing on the track. As
this happens, there is an equal and opposite reaction force in which the track pushes back on
Clinton's shoe with the same force.

7. According to Newton's third law, for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

When the hammer strikes the nail, it exerts a force on the nail in the forward direction. At the
same time, the nail exerts a force on the hammer equal in magnitude but opposite in direction.
The force exerted by the nail causes the hammer to be pushed back in the opposite direction.

8. According to Newton's third law, for every action force there is an equal and opposite reaction
force. The action force is applied from one object onto a second object. The reaction force is
applied from the second object onto the first object.

In this scenario the action force is Earth pulling down on the book (gravity). The reaction force is
the force of the book pulling up on Earth. This can be thought of as a gravitational force
exerted by the book.
9. When an object exerts a force on another object, the second object exerts an equal and
opposite force on the first object.

So, even though the light pole was not moving, when Mr. Jenkins' car hit the pole, the pole
exerted the same force on the car that the car exerted on the pole. This force caused the damage
to Mr. Jenkins' car.

10. Sara's seat belt pulls back on her as the car slows down.

Any object experiencing uniform motion, such as a car or person moving at a constant speed,
tends to remain in motion unless acted on by a force. In this case, if Sara was not wearing her
seat belt, she would continue moving forward at a constant speed even after the car slowed
down. This would cause her to fly forward inside of the car. The seat belt applies a force to Sara,
pulling her back and slowing her down.

11. When a car hits a pole that does not move, the pole pushes back on the car with the same
force the car applies on the pole. Also, the car will slow down from a certain speed to zero in a
short period of time. When this happens, there is a high impact on the car which does a lot of
damage.

If the pole breaks, however, it can no longer push back on the car with the same force. The car
will be able to slow down over a longer period of time which results in less damage.

So the best way to change the design of the pole to decrease damage to the vehicle would be to
modify the base of the pole so that the pole will break when hit with a certain force.

12. Newton's third law of motion states that for every action there is an equal and opposite
reaction. For Mr. Walters' rocket to move into the air, a force must push up on it. This force is
generated by the exhaust gases of the rocket fuel, which are shot downward with the same
force that the rocket is pushed upward.

13. Newton's third law of motion states that for every action there is an equal and opposite
reaction. In the case of Bode's rocket, the pressurized air in the bottle forces the water to gush
downward out of the bottle, causing the rocket to launch upward into the air. The force of the
water gushing downward is equal to the upward force on the rocket. So, the two forces are equal
and act in opposite directions.

14. For every force exerted on an object, there is an equal force exerted in the opposite direction.
The ball exerts force on the wall, and the wall pushes back on the ball in the opposite direction.
When the ball hits the wall with more force, the wall pushes back on the ball with more force.
This causes the return speed of the ball to increase. The force that the wall applies to the ball
launches the ball in the opposite direction. The greater the force on the ball, the greater its speed
becomes.

15. Newton's third law says that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. During
the collision, the blue ball pushed back on the white ball with an equal and opposite force
that was great enough to stop the white ball. The force acting on the blue ball was a net force
that accelerated it forward.

16. According to Newton's third law of motion, whenever one object exerts a force on another
object, the second object exerts an equal force on the first object but in the opposite direction. In
this example, the car exerted the same amount of force on the sign as the sign exerted on the car.

A way to reduce the force of such a collision would be to reduce the car's rate of deceleration.
This could be accomplished with a sign that breaks loose from the ground when a force is
applied to it. Such a sign would reduce the impact of the force by stopping the car over a longer
period of time.

17. According to Newton's third law of motion, for every action force there is an equal and
opposite reaction force. In this case, the action force is the balloon pushing the air outward. As
this happens, there is an equal and opposite reaction force in which the air is pushing back on
the balloon in the opposite direction.

18. According to Newton's third law of motion, for every action force there is an equal and
opposite reaction force. The hockey player pushes against the wall with a certain force. The wall
pushes back with the same force in the opposite direction of the hockey player. Therefore, the
forces are equal and applied in the opposite direction.

19. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction; therefore, when the person's feet push
backward on the sidewalk, and the sidewalk pushes forward on the person, thereby propelling the
person forward down the street.

20. According to Newton's third law of motion, for every action force there is an equal and
opposite reaction force. The ball pushes on the tennis racket with a certain force during contact.
The tennis racket pushes back with the same force in the opposite direction on the ball.
Therefore, both the tennis racket and the ball experience equal forces but in opposite
directions.