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Difficulty: EasyNewton's Third Law (Action/Reaction)

When a heavy, fast-moving bowling ball strikes a light, stationary wooden pin, the impact force exerted by the ball on the pin is greater than the reaction force exerted by the pin on the ball.

Answer: Answer

Answer

The statement is false. The action and reaction forces are exactly equal in magnitude.
The statement is false because Newton's Third Law dictates that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. The force the bowling ball exerts on the pin is exactly equal in magnitude to the force the pin exerts back on the bowling ball. The reason the pin flies away while the ball continues moving forward is due to their differences in mass (inertia), not a difference in the force applied.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the two interacting objects in the collision scenario.
The two objects are the heavy bowling ball and the light wooden pin.
To determine the action-reaction force pair correctly, you must isolate the interacting bodies.
2
Apply Newton's Third Law of Motion to the interaction.
The law states that whenever one object exerts a force on a second object, the second object exerts an equal and opposite force on the first.
This fundamental physical law applies to all mechanical interactions regardless of size, weight, or speed.
3
Evaluate the statement's claim about differing forces based on mass.
The mass and velocity only affect how much each object accelerates (Newton's Second Law), but the impact force itself is identical for both.
Force is an interaction between two objects; they share the exact same force magnitude.

Key Concept

Newton's Third Law of Motion (Action and Reaction)
Estimated Time:45s
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Topics

Newton's Third Law (Action/Reaction)

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