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Dynamics Script
Have you ever wondered what is the concept of action and reaction forces or why doesn’t an object float
in the air? We all must have heard about the physicist Isaac Newton. Isaac Newton has discovered three
laws that outlined his understanding of motion and which explained why an object doesn’t float in the air
and what is the concept of action and reaction forces. His three laws were known as newton’s three laws
of motion. As we know, Newton’s 1st Law is regarding inertia, which is primarily an object’s tendency to
continue what it’s doing. If it’s at rest it remains at rest and if it is in motion, it stays in motion. In addition,
his second law is regarding the proportionality of force and acceleration. Which is all about Fnet equals
mass times acceleration. This is where it brings us to the third law of motion, which we know as, for every
action force, there exists equal and opposite reaction forces. This essentially means if you exert a force
on an object, it exerts an equal force back on you which we call the normal force. In physics, normal
means perpendicular and in this case, it would mean that normal force is always perpendicular to
whichever surface the object is resisting on. The forces transmit on each other and will always occur in
pairs and action and reaction forces have the same magnitude but the direction is opposite.
When one object exerts a force on the second object, the second object exerts an equal and opposite
force on the first object. For example, in a hot air balloon, as the hot air rushes down, the balloon goes up
as for every action force there is an equal and opposite reaction force. In this case, as the air rushing
down. There is an equal and opposite reaction force of the balloon moving up. This describes the
relationship between two forces: to every action, there is an equal opposing force.
We observe this law almost every day in one way or the other. This means that forces always occur in
pairs and action and reaction have the same magnitude but the direction is opposite. To understand this
concept, let’s take an example of a glass that is kept on a table. So what is happening is it is going to be
exerting a force on this table that is equal to its weight then why is the glass is falling down into the table.
It is exerting a certain amount of force on it, why does it just move down into the table. This means that
the table is also exerting a certain amount of force on the glass on the table exerting on it. The glass is
going to be equal in magnitude to the force and exerts on the table but it is just going to be in the opposite
direction. So, they cancel out each other and the glass remains where it is. The glass does not move,
which means that to every action there is going to be a reaction force that is going to be equal in
magnitude but opposite in direction. So, if the force of glass is 10 newtons. A force of 10 newtons is
exerting on the table. So then the table is also exerting a force of 10 newtons on the glass in the opposite
direction causing the resultant force to be 0 newtons and the glass to remain exactly where it is.
(Action=Reaction) For every interaction between objects. In this case the glass and the table, there will
always be a pair of opposite directions forced that are equal in magnitude. This brings us to the concept
of action and reaction. Action is equal in magnitude to the reaction but opposite in direction.
As I sit in my chair right now, the force of gravity is pulling me down towards the center of the earth. This
occurs because the chair pushes up on me and my weight pushes down to the chair. However,
something called the normal force points upwards with an equal magnitude. Which is why I remain still.
This law of Newton’s can be bewildering because it seems as if no object can move since any force
accelerating an object must be paired with another in the opposite direction. This is why we must
understand that when assessing the motion of an object, we consider only the forces acting upon that
object and not the forces that are applied to another object.
Let’s look at another example, when a rock falls on the ground the gravitational force from the earth
causes the object to accelerate towards the earth but it can also be that the earth is accelerating towards
the rock. We don’t notice this in our daily life because the acceleration of each object is inversely
proportional to its mass. The rock has a very light mass, for example, it has a mass of 10 kilograms so the
rock accelerates faster. However, the earth is very heavy, for example, if it has a mass of 6.00 x 10^24 kg
so the earth’s acceleration is very minimal and nearly negligible. This shows us that a given force exerted
on a small mass produces a greater acceleration apart from the same force exerted on a large mass
giving us a smaller acceleration. This is action and reaction forces on different masses.
Picture a car hitting a brick wall. The car transmits an action force on the wall from its motion, and the wall
transmits a reaction, and the wall transmits a reaction force right back on the car, causing it to stop
quickly. These vectors are equal in length and point in opposite directions. This also means there can
never be a single isolated force as any force is in an interaction. Forces always must exist in pairs.
Let’s take a look at a real-life example. When I push my finger on this desk right now, I’m applying a force
to it. It’s applying an equal force right back on my finger and I can feel that. However, if this is true which it
is. Then why can we move objects? How can I pick up this glass or how can reindeer pull a sleigh? This is
possible since objects can move because there is more going on than just action and reaction forces.
For example, when a reindeer pulls on a sleigh, Newton’s third law tells us that the sleigh is pulling back
on it with an equal force. But the reindeer can still move the sleigh forward because it’s standing on the
ground. When it takes a step forward, it pushes backwards on the ground with its foot and the ground is
pushing it forward. Meanwhile, the reindeer is also pulling on the sleigh, while the sleigh is pulling it right
back. But the force from the ground pushing and the reindeer forward is stronger than the force from the
sleigh pulling it back. So, the animal accelerates forward along with the sleigh.
In conclusion, Newton’s third law of motion demonstrates that every action force has an equal and
opposite reaction. To put it in another way, object A exerts a force on object B, next object B exerts an
equal and opposite force on object A. As we notice, the forces are exerting on different objects.

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Dynamics Script

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