When a ball bounces on the ground, the ball and the ground act on each other through a force called the normal force. The normal force is a force that acts perpendicular to the surface of contact between two objects.
As the ball hits the ground, the ground exerts an upward normal force on the ball, which causes the ball to bounce back up. At the same time, the ball exerts a downward force on the ground, which is equal in magnitude and opposite in direction to the normal force exerted by the ground on the ball.
This interaction between the ball and the ground is an example of Newton's third law of motion, which states that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.
A ball bounces on the ground. How do the ball and the ground act on each other?
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