Final answer:
The statement is based on a common misunderstanding regarding forces. According to Newton's laws, a toy car pushed by equal and opposite forces will remain stationary due to having a net force of zero. Newton's first law says an object remains at rest or moves at constant velocity unless a net force acts on it, while the third law states that action and reaction forces are equal and opposite.
Step-by-step explanation:
The statement "A toy car being pushed on both sides by equal forces make it stand still" is a common misconception that can be clarified by Newton's laws of motion. According to Newton's first law of motion, an object will remain in a state of rest or move at a constant speed in a straight line unless acted upon by a net external force. This law implies that if the toy car is not moving, it will not start to move unless there is an unbalanced force acting on it.
Newton's laws also state that the net force acting on an object determines its acceleration. When equal forces are applied in opposite directions, they cancel each other out resulting in a net force of zero. This is why the car remains stationary. However, if one force were to become greater than the other, the car would accelerate in the direction of the greater force, obeying Newton's second law.
Furthermore, Newton's third law of motion reminds us that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. This means that if one were to push on the car, the car would push back with equal force, although this does not contribute to the car's motion since these action-reaction forces act on different objects.