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Which of the following is true about Newton's third law of motion?

A) An object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.
B) For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.
C) The force exerted on an object is equal to the mass of the object times the acceleration of the object.
D) The velocity of an object will remain constant unless a force acts on it.

User Sudheer K
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1 Answer

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Final answer:

The correct answer is option B), which accurately states Newton's third law of motion as 'For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.' This law indicates that forces act in pairs with equal magnitude but opposite direction.

Step-by-step explanation:

The answer to the question ‘Which of the following is true about Newton's third law of motion?’ is option B) ‘For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.’ This is a direct statement of Newton's third law of motion, which explains how forces come in pairs. When one body exerts a force on another, the second body exerts an equal force in the opposite direction on the first body.

Other options describe Newton's other laws or related concepts in motion:

  • Option A describes Newton's first law of motion, also known as the law of inertia.
  • Option C corresponds to Newton's second law of motion, which relates to how the force exerted on an object causes it to accelerate based on the object's mass.
  • Option D restates a concept that is part of Newton's first law related to how the velocity of an object remains constant without an outside force.

To clarify, Newton's first law (law of inertia) states that a body at rest remains at rest, or, if in motion, remains in motion at a constant velocity unless acted upon by a net external force. Newton's second law states that the acceleration of a system is directly proportional to and in the same direction as the net external force acting on the system, and inversely proportional to its mass. And as stated earlier, Newton's third law indicates that every action has an equal and opposite reaction.

User Mueslo
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