Newton's third law of motion states that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. This means that whenever one object exerts a force on a second object, the second object simultaneously exerts a force equal in magnitude but opposite in direction on the first object
. This law highlights that forces always come in pairs-known as action- reaction pairs-and these forces act on different bodies. For example, if object A pushes on object B, object B pushes back on object A with the same force but in the opposite direction
. A practical example is a rocket launch: the rocket's engines push exhaust gases downward, and in reaction, the rocket is propelled upward with an equal and opposite force
. Another example is when you push against a wall; the wall pushes back with equal force in the opposite direction
. Mathematically, the law can be expressed as:
F⃗AB=−F⃗BA\vec{F}{AB}=-\vec{F}{BA}FAB=−FBA
where F⃗AB\vec{F}{AB}FAB is the force exerted by object A on object B, and F⃗BA\vec{F}{BA}FBA is the force exerted by object B on object A
. Newton's third law is fundamental in understanding interactions and is closely related to the conservation of momentum in physics
