Every action is equal to opposite reaction?

@kowtow (80)
India
July 22, 2008 7:34am CST
How is it possible? Every action may have some reaction.. How can we say it is equal to opposite reaction? please guide..
4 responses
@besthope44 (12123)
• India
1 Jun 10
Just you can equate to ourself. What we give, what we think, is what we get back.
• United States
1 Sep 08
Sorry, friend. That's not one of Einstein's. It's Newton's theory, and it actually says that every action has an equal and opposite reaction. There are hundreds of model experiments in physics, but to explain it in terms of every-day life is a bit difficult. try baseball: if a baseball is pitched at a particular speed and then the batter hits it at that speed, adding the speed and impact of the hit, the ball will travel back at a speed equal to the speed it was given.
@Ciniful (1587)
• Canada
22 Jul 08
Well no, you have the theory a little wrong. The theory is that every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Meaning, for every action, there is an opposite reaction. If I run into you, the opposite reaction is you falling over. ;)
• United States
31 Jul 08
The phrase "For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction" refers to Newton's third law of motion and is actually referring to forces. It might also be said that "for every force there is an equal and opposite force." That is how I explain it to my students. For example if something is sitting on a table, the vertical forces are equal and that is what makes the object stay in place. Gravity is pulling it down and the table is pushing up on it with the same amount of force. It is hard to explain this here but I hope you get the idea. If I push on a wall, no matter how much force I put on it, it will push back on my hands with the same amount of force. This is why someone who punches the wall hurts himself. Hope this helps a little.