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[1] [2] The third law is also more generally stated as: "To every action there is always opposed an equal reaction: or the mutual actions of two bodies upon each other are always equal, and directed to contrary parts." [3] The attribution of which of the two forces is the action and which is the reaction is arbitrary. Either of the two can be ...
For example, consider a book at rest on a table. The Earth's gravity pulls down upon the book. The "reaction" to that "action" is not the support force from the table holding up the book, but the gravitational pull of the book acting on the Earth. [note 6] Newton's third law relates to a more fundamental principle, the conservation of momentum.
The action corresponding to the various paths is used to calculate the path integral, which gives the probability amplitudes of the various outcomes. Although equivalent in classical mechanics with Newton's laws, the action principle is better suited for generalizations and plays an important role in modern physics. Indeed, this principle is ...
In classical mechanics, a reactive centrifugal force forms part of an action–reaction pair with a centripetal force. In accordance with Newton's first law of motion , an object moves in a straight line in the absence of a net force acting on the object.
Action at a distance also acts as a model explaining physical phenomena even in the presence of other models. Again in the case of gravity, hypothesizing an instantaneous force between masses allows the return time of comets to be predicted as well as predicting the existence of previously unknown planets, like Neptune.
This reaction force is sometimes described as a centrifugal inertial reaction, [44] [45] that is, a force that is centrifugally directed, which is a reactive force equal and opposite to the centripetal force that is curving the path of the mass. The concept of the reactive centrifugal force is sometimes used in mechanics and engineering.
The normal force, for example, is responsible for the structural integrity of tables and floors as well as being the force that responds whenever an external force pushes on a solid object. An example of the normal force in action is the impact force on an object crashing into an immobile surface. [4]: ch.12 [5]
(A d'Alembert force is not to be confused with a contact force arising from the physical interaction between two objects, which is the subject of Newton's third law – 'action is reaction'. [ 13 ] [ 14 ] In terms of the example of the passenger vehicle above, a contact force emerges when the body of the passenger touches the backrest of the ...