How does Newton’s Third Law Apply when, say, pushing a ball through space?

1.04K views

Wouldn’t an equal and opposite be exerted on your hand, thus canceling out the force and having no net change on the ball?

Noticeably different from a rocket, where propelled material is the force that drives the rocket forward.

I used to remember the answer to this question, but my physics is kinda fuzzy.

In: Physics

9 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

People often misinterpret Newton’s third law to mean forces that cancel out like: <—hand—>

But in reality it looks more like

<—Hand

Ball—>

The forces are still equal and still opposite of each other but they are acting on different objects which is why there is no cancelling out.
As for what happens, you both move away from each other with the light object moving away faster than the heavier object.

You are viewing 1 out of 9 answers, click here to view all answers.