Question

A large truck was traveling east when it crashed into a small car that was going west. If we call the force this truck applies to the car our "action force," what is the "reaction force"?

A. The car's brakes applying an equal and opposite force.
B. The car's engine generating a counteracting force.
C. The road exerting a frictional force on the car.
D. The car's steering wheel turning to avoid the truck.

Answer 1

The reaction force to the force applied by a truck to a car in a collision is the equal and opposite force applied by the car to the truck, which is not listed in the provided options.

Step-by-step explanation:

If we refer to the force the truck applies to the car as the "action force," then according to Newton's Third Law of Motion, which states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, the "reaction force" would be the force that the car applies to the truck. This force is equal in magnitude and opposite in direction to the action force. Therefore, the correct answer to what the reaction force is, given the options, would be none of the provided choices. The actual reaction force is the force applied by the small car to the large truck.