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Force and laws of motion

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Third law of motion

Tanusri Gururaj, Academic content writer of Physics at Edumarz


Every action produces an equal and opposite reaction.


  • If a body exerts a force on another body, the second body will immediately exert a force on the first one with the same magnitude but opposite direction.


  • Action and reaction forces do not cancel each other out as they act on different bodies. 


  • Action and reaction may not produce the same acceleration. 

This is because each force acts on different objects and, the mass of the two objects may not be the same. (a = F/m)


  • Examples:


  1. While walking, we exert a force on the ground and, the ground exerts a force on us.

  2. Swimmers push the water back and, the water exerts an equal but opposite force on them. This helps them to swim forward.

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