Name ______________________________________Date____________Period_______Page__
Action and Reaction Notes
Newton’s third law of motion: For every ___________________ there is an
_________________ and opposite __________________________.
Newton’s third law of motion describes ____________________-________________
pairs this way: _________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
Action – reaction forces _______________ act on ____________________ objects.
Example of an action-reaction pair
A gun recoils when it is fired. The recoil is the result of
action-reaction force pairs. As the gases from the gunpowder
explosion expand, the gun pushes the bullet forwards and the
bullet pushes the gun backwards.
The two opposing forces are:
1. the gun on the bullet
2. the bullet on the gun
The gun pushes the bullet forwards (an action).
The bullet pushes the gun backwards (the reaction).
Identifying Action and Reaction Force Pairs
According to _____________________________for every action force there is an
_________ (in size) and _______________ (in direction) reaction force.
To identify and describe action-reaction force pairs:
1. Identify the two opposing ______________.
2. Make two statements describing what is pushing on what and in what
_______________________________.
3. If there is a diagram, draw and label the action and reaction vectors.
Examples:
A. Consider the interaction between a baseball bat and a baseball.
1.
Identify the two opposing forces:
1. ________________________
2. ________________________
2.
Make two statements describing what is pushing on what and in what
direction:
The baseball pushes the bat to the left (an ________).
The bat pushes the ball to the right (the __________).
3.
On the diagram, label the action and reaction vectors.
**Note that the nouns in the sentence describing the action force switch places when
describing the reaction force.
B. Consider the interaction between a baseball and a baseball glove.
1.
Identify the two opposing forces:
1. ________________________
2. ________________________
2.
Make two statements describing what is pushing on what and in what
direction:
The __________ pushes the _________ to the left (an action).
The __________ pushes the _________ to the right (the reaction).
3.
On the diagram, draw and label the action and reaction vectors.
C. Consider the interaction between a bowling ball and a bowling pin.
1. Identify the two opposing forces:
1. ________________________
2. ________________________
2. Make two statements describing what is pushing on what and in what
direction:
The ___________ pushes the ________ to the left (an _________).
The ___________ pushes the _______ to the right (the ________).
3. On the diagram, draw and label the action and reaction vectors.
Consider the interaction between the helium gas and the balloon.
1. Identify the two opposing forces:
1. ________________________
2. ________________________
2. Make two statements describing what is pushing on what and in what
direction:
The __________ pushes the ________ to the left (an _________).
The __________ pushes the ________ to the right (the________).
3. On the diagram, draw and label the action and reaction vectors.