Law of Interaction

NEWTON’S THIRD LAW OF MOTION

 A force is a push or pull that acts upon an object as a results of its interaction.
 Forces result from interactions! Some forces result from contact interactions
(normal, frictional, tensional, and applied forces are example of contact forces)
and other result of action- at- a- distance interactions (gravitational, electrical, and
magnetic forces).
Whenever objects A and b
interact with each other ,
they exert forces upon each
other. When you sit in your
chair, your body exerts a
downward force on the chair
and the chair exerts an
upward force on your body.
There are two forces
resulting from this
interaction- a force
on the chair and a
force on your body.
These two forces are
called action and
reaction forces.
Sir Isaac Newton , formally stated that,
Newton’s third law is: “For every action,
there is an equal and opposite reaction.

It means that in every interaction, there is a

pair of forces acting on the two interacting
objects. The size of the forces on the first
object equals the size of the force on the
second object. The direction of the force on
the first object is opposite to the direction of
the force on the second object. Forces come in
pairs- equal and opposite action- reaction force
pair.
 Interaction in Nature
Consider the propulsion of a fish
through the water. A fish uses it
fins to push water backwards. In
turn, the water reacts by pushing
the fish forwards, propelling the
fish through the water.

Flying gracefully through the air, birds depend on

Newton’s third law of motion. As the birds push
down on the air with their wings, the air pushes their
wings up and gives them lift.
Other examples of the Third Law
Consider a motion of a car. A car is
The baseball forces the bat to the
equipped with wheels which spin
left(an action); the bat forces the
backwards. As the wheels spin
ball on the right(the reaction).
backwards, they grip the road and
push the road backwards. Reaction:
road pushes on tire. Action: tire
pushes the road.