Which of the following provides the best example of Newton’s third law of motion?

Question

A person pushes down on a path when walking, pushing the path into the ground.

A baseball bat moves back toward the catcher after hitting a ball to center field.

A bicycle moves forward while being pedaled at a constant rate.

Blowing up a balloon and letting it go quickly makes the balloon fall to the ground immediately.

Answer 1

Newton's third law of motion states that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. From the options provided, the best example of Newton's third law is:

A baseball bat moves back toward the catcher after hitting a ball to center field.

This scenario illustrates the action-reaction principle, where the action of the bat hitting the ball results in a reaction of the bat moving backward. The force exerted by the bat on the baseball and the equal and opposite force exerted by the baseball on the bat exemplify this law effectively.