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Pretest: Newton’s Third Law
1- A father tosses his baby into the air, and then catches the baby. During the toss
while the father is still touching the baby...
a) The father and the baby exert the same amount of force on each other.
b) The father exerts a force on the baby but the baby does not exert any force
on the father.
c) The father and the baby each exert a force on the other, but the father exerts
the larger force.
d) The father and the baby each exert a force on the other, but the baby exerts
the larger force.

2- You are familiar with the fact that a rifle recoils when fired. The bullet pushes
backwards upon the rifle. The force that the rifle exerts on the bullet is...
a) Smaller than the force the bullet exerts on the rifle.
b) The same magnitude as the force the bullet exerts on the rifle.
c) greater than the force the bullet exerts on the rifle.
d) Zero since the rifle recoils at uniform velocity.

3- You are familiar with the fact that a rifle recoils when fired. The bullet pushes
backwards upon the rifle. The acceleration of the recoiling rifle is ...
c) Smaller than the acceleration of the bullet.
d) The same magnitude as the acceleration of the bullet.
c) greater than the acceleration of the bullet.
d) Zero since the rifle recoils at uniform velocity.

4N A
4- Using the figure at right, how many action and reaction forces 6N B
involving book B can be identified?
a) one action force and one reaction force
b) two action forces and two reaction forces
 c) three action forces and three reaction forces
d) three action forces and one reaction force

5- A metal block is suspended by your hand through a string. The reaction to

the force of gravity on the block is the force exerted by:
a) the string on the block
b) the block on the string
c) the string on your hand
d) the block on Earth

6- The action-reaction forces we encounter in Newton's Third Law

a) Always cancel each other out.
b) Always act on different objects.
c) They disappear once the object starts motion.
d) May be perpendicular to each other in some cases.

7- A man is attempting to push a chair across the floor exerting a force of 50 N

on the chair. When will the chair exert a force of 50 N on the man?

a) only if the man and the chair are at rest

b) only if the man and the chair are accelerating
c) only if the man and the chair are moving with constant velocity
d) in all of the above cases

8- In the previous question, the man succeeded in moving the chair at constant
velocity.
Then, the frictional force with the floor is …
a) Equal to 50 N
b) greater than 50 N
c) less than 50N
d) zero
9- According to Newton’s Third Law, if the horse pulls the carriage, the carriage
pulls back with an equal and opposite force. How can the horse move the
carriage?
a) Newton’s Third Law does not apply to the
horse and the carriage because the
carriage is on wheels.
b) The carriage moves only if it has less mass
than the horse.
c) The horse pulls the carriage before it has
time to react.
d) The force of the carriage on the horse does not cancel the force of the horse
on the carriage because the two forces act on different objects.

10- A child leaves a small wagon on the street and goes indoors. A few minutes
later, a large car accidentally crashes into the child’s small wagon. Which of the
following is true?

a) the car exerts a greater amount of force on the small wagon than the
small wagon exerts on the car
b) e small wagon exerts a greater amount of force on the car than the car
exerts on the small wagon.
c) neither exerts a force on the other, the small wagon gets smashed simply
because it gets in the way of the car.
d) the car exerts a force on the small wagon but the small wagon does not
exert a force on the car.
e) the car exerts the same amount of force on the small wagon as the small