Which of the following statements about Newton’s third law of motion is incorrect?
- ((a))
The action and reaction forces act on the same object.
- ((b))
The forces act simultaneously on two different objects.
- ((c))
When one object exerts a force on another, the second object exerts an equal and opposite force back.
- ((d))
The forces are equal in magnitude but opposite in direction.
Show Answer
The action and reaction forces act on the same object.
The correct answer is The action and reaction forces act on the same object..

Key Points
- Newton’s Third Law of Motion states that for every action, there is always an equal and opposite reaction. This means that forces always exist in pairs.
- A fundamental requirement of this law is that the action and reaction forces act on two different objects. If they acted on the same object, the net force would always be zero, making it impossible for any individual object to accelerate or change its state of motion. Hence, statement 1 is incorrect.
- The forces involved in the interaction act simultaneously. There is no time delay or "cause and effect" lag between the action and the reaction; they happen at the exact same moment. Hence, statement 2 is correct.
- When one object (Object A) exerts a force on another (Object B), the second object (Object B) instantaneously exerts a force back on the first (Object A). Hence, statement 3 is correct.
- These two forces are equal in magnitude but opposite in direction. This is why the law is often expressed mathematically using vectors as Fab = -Fba. Hence, statement 4 is correct.
- Hence, the correct answer is that the statement "The action and reaction forces act on the same object" is the incorrect one.

Additional Information
- Sir Isaac Newton: He formulated the three laws of motion and published them in his monumental work, "Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica", in the year 1687. These laws form the basis of Classical Mechanics.
- Newton's First Law (Law of Inertia): It states that an object will remain at rest or continue to move at a constant velocity unless acted upon by an external unbalanced force.
- Newton's Second Law: It establishes that the force (F) acting on an object is equal to the mass (m) of the object multiplied by its acceleration (a), commonly expressed as F = ma. It also defines force as the rate of change of momentum.
- Practical Examples of the Third Law:
- Recoil of a Gun: When a bullet is fired (action), the gun pushes back on the shoulder of the shooter (reaction).
- Walking: To walk forward, a person pushes the ground backward with their foot (action), and the ground pushes the person forward (reaction).
- Propulsion of a Rocket: The rocket engine expels hot exhaust gases downward (action), and the gases exert an upward thrust on the rocket (reaction), allowing it to lift off.
- Swimming: A swimmer pushes the water backward (action), and the water pushes the swimmer forward (reaction).
- Force Measurement: The SI unit of force is the Newton (N). One Newton is defined as the force required to accelerate a mass of 1 kilogram at a rate of 1 meter per second squared (1 kg·m/s²).

Important Points
- Cancellation of Forces: A common misconception is that because the forces are equal and opposite, they should cancel each other out. However, cancellation only occurs when multiple forces act on the same single body. Since action-reaction pairs act on different bodies, they do not cancel each other.
- Mass and Acceleration: While the forces are equal in magnitude, the resulting accelerations of the two objects may be very different depending on their masses (as per the Second Law). For example, the Earth pulls on a falling apple with the same force the apple pulls on the Earth, but the Earth's massive inertia means its acceleration is negligible.





























































