Action and Reaction

Also called

third law of motion · Newton's third law · equal and opposite forces · balloon rocket · recoil of a gun · rocket propulsion · swimmer pushes the wall · skaters push apart · reaction force · forces act on different bodies · action-reaction pair · क्रिया और प्रतिक्रिया · गति का तीसरा नियम · बल

Topics

• Newton's third law: to every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.
• Action and reaction act on two different bodies, so they never cancel each other out.
• The balloon pushes air out backward; the escaping air pushes the balloon forward along the string.
• When two skaters push each other, both move apart: each feels a force of the same size from the other.
• A gun pushes the bullet forward and the bullet pushes the gun backward with an equal force: that is the recoil.
• The gun has far more mass than the bullet, so the same force gives it a much smaller acceleration.
• A swimmer pushes the wall backward with the feet; the wall pushes the swimmer forward through the water.
• A rocket pushes hot gases downward out of its nozzle; the gases push the rocket upward, even in empty space.

About this model

A GLB file of about 293 KB, shown in Lably's 3D viewer and, on a phone, placed in your room with AR. Credit: Model, science and animation: Lably (built procedurally with three.js; no downloaded meshes). | CC BY 4.0. Original geometry and animation made for Lably.

More in Science

1

1 m reflecting telescopeClass 6–123D model

1 m reflecting telescopeClass 6–123D model

Action and ReactionClass 93D model

Anatomy of a CometClass 5–93D model

Animal and plant cellClass 8–12Interactive lab

A

Anomalocaris (Cambrian predator)Class 5–123D model