Newton's Third Law: Exploring Impact & Significance

In summary: Without the equal and opposite reaction force, there is no way to determine the motion of the objects. So in summary, without reaction forces, Newton's Third Law would not hold true and there would be no way to determine the motion of objects in an interaction. This would have significant implications for understanding and predicting motion, making it a fundamental law in the study of physics.
  • #1
johncena
131
1
I can't understand the significance of Newton's third law.
What would happen if there were no reaction forces?
 
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  • #2
Then Newton's Third Law would probably be "every force has no equal or opposite reaction force". but what is your question really. The significance to me of Newton's third law is that force is a kind of conservative value. It kind of governs motion. When you apply force to a wall, why doesn't the wall have an acceleration according to F=ma? Well that is because the wall is also applying the same force in the opposite direction, counter-acting your force. If there was no reaction force, the wall would have to move will acceleration F/m. I feel like I may not be answering your question though, would you like to be more specific?
 
  • #3
Nothing would happen because there would be absolutely NO forces.
 
  • #4
dacruick said:
Then Newton's Third Law would probably be "every force has no equal or opposite reaction force". but what is your question really. The significance to me of Newton's third law is that force is a kind of conservative value. It kind of governs motion. When you apply force to a wall, why doesn't the wall have an acceleration according to F=ma? Well that is because the wall is also applying the same force in the opposite direction, counter-acting your force. If there was no reaction force, the wall would have to move will acceleration F/m. I feel like I may not be answering your question though, would you like to be more specific?
Is it not true that the wall is not moving because of frictional force between wall and the ground?
 
  • #5
bp_psy said:
Nothing would happen because there would be absolutely NO forces.

Why no forces? I mean , what would happen if there is only action force,no reaction?
 
  • #6
no, the wall is not moving because of internal bonds in the brick or whatever it is. its cemented into the ground and so on, so it is not moving for those reasons. If you put the wall on skates and then pushed it, it would move. But think of what happens when you punch a wall. your hand hurts. why does it hurt? Of course its because of that reaction force. And I don't even think i can tell you what happens when there are no reaction forces. Bouncing a ball would be impossible, because the ground wouldn't push back up, you could compress things infinitely small with literally infinitesimal amounts of forces. Its a waste of time to think of what the world would be like with no reaction forces.
 
  • #7
An action force without reaction means no force.When you are acted upon by a force, you feel the force, because inertia is a property of masses
 
  • #8
johncena said:
Why no forces? I mean , what would happen if there is only action force,no reaction?
Newtons three laws represent among other things a definition of force Couples. In the interaction of objects what arises is a force couple which is a thing in itself that is composed by 2 force vectors each acting on one of the 2 objects in the interaction.When doing problems it is sometimes useful to ignore one of the members of the couple but usually neglecting the other member is the mistake made most often.When thinking about the nature of the laws, thinking about only one member of the force is not useful and ultimately meaningless. What the interaction has created is the couple. If the interaction had not happened neither of the components would exist.And to this point no interaction has been observed that only created half a force couple. So the conclusion if the third law was not true then no forces would exist. This is my logic and there are probably more convincing and rigorous arguments out there.
 
  • #9
johncena said:
I can't understand the significance of Newton's third law.
What would happen if there were no reaction forces?
Your question has no answer.

Imagine two stationary objects (A and B) with like charges and equal inertial mass. Since they have like charges they will repel each other. We'll call A the action mass and B the reaction mass. But it really doesn't matter which is the action and which is the reaction. The point is that the third law says that A will move exactly the same as B, just in the opposite direction.

Now suppose, as you are proposing, that there is no reaction. How will you determine which object moves and which one remains stationary?
 

Related to Newton's Third Law: Exploring Impact & Significance

What is Newton's Third Law?

Newton's Third Law states that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. This means that when an object exerts a force on another object, the second object will exert an equal force in the opposite direction on the first object.

What are some examples of Newton's Third Law in action?

Some examples of Newton's Third Law include: a person pushing against a wall (the person exerts a force on the wall, and the wall exerts an equal force back on the person), a rocket launching into space (the rocket's engines push against the ground, and the ground pushes back with an equal force, propelling the rocket forward), and a balloon being inflated (the air inside the balloon exerts a force on the walls of the balloon, and the walls of the balloon exert an equal force back, causing the balloon to expand).

How does Newton's Third Law relate to the conservation of momentum?

Newton's Third Law is closely related to the conservation of momentum, which states that the total momentum of a system remains constant in the absence of external forces. When two objects interact with each other, their momenta will always be equal and opposite due to Newton's Third Law. This means that the total momentum of the system is conserved.

What is the significance of Newton's Third Law in physics?

Newton's Third Law is significant because it is one of the fundamental laws of physics and is essential for understanding the motion of objects. It helps explain why objects move and how forces interact with each other. This law is also crucial in fields such as engineering, aeronautics, and space exploration.

Are there any exceptions to Newton's Third Law?

No, there are no exceptions to Newton's Third Law. It applies to all objects and all interactions, whether they are on a large or small scale. However, it may seem like there are exceptions in some cases, such as a person jumping on a trampoline (the trampoline exerts a greater force on the person, causing them to bounce higher), but this is due to other forces at play, such as gravity and the elasticity of the trampoline material.

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