- #1
Cliff Hanley
- 90
- 2
I read this description of thrust on gcsescience.com;
"Hot gases are forced downwards through the rocket's jets
which pushes the body of the rocket upwards.This is an example of Newton's Third Law of Motion. "
I've learned already that Newton's 3rd law states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, eg, when I push against a wall, the wall pushes against me (if it didn't I would end up pushing the wall away). I don't find this easy to grasp fully yet but it seems to make some sort of sense. But in the rocket example above, if I relate that to the example of me pushing against the wall, who is me and who is the wall?
"Hot gases are forced downwards through the rocket's jets
which pushes the body of the rocket upwards.This is an example of Newton's Third Law of Motion. "
I've learned already that Newton's 3rd law states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, eg, when I push against a wall, the wall pushes against me (if it didn't I would end up pushing the wall away). I don't find this easy to grasp fully yet but it seems to make some sort of sense. But in the rocket example above, if I relate that to the example of me pushing against the wall, who is me and who is the wall?