Question

Suppose you are standing on a horizontal floor, in a room, with one of your feet and leaning the wall of the room with the other foot. The number of action reaction pair of forces you experience is

Answer 1

In this scenario, you are experiencing two action-reaction pairs of forces.

Let's break down the forces involved:

Gravity and Normal Force Pair: Your body is subject to the force of gravity pulling you downward. In response, the floor exerts an upward force on you known as the normal force. This force prevents you from accelerating downward into the floor. This is the first action-reaction pair.

Action: Earth's gravity pulls you downward.

Reaction: The floor exerts an equal and opposite force (normal force) upward on your feet.

Foot-Wall Interaction Pair: The foot of yours that is leaning against the wall exerts a force on the wall. According to Newton's third law of motion, the wall pushes back on your foot with an equal and opposite force.

Action: Your foot pushes against the wall.

Reaction: The wall pushes back on your foot with an equal and opposite force.

So, in total, you experience two action-reaction pairs of forces in this situation.