The wind blows a lawn chair that weighs 4 kg into a fence with a force of 8 N. How much reaction force does the fence exert on the chair?

Question

1. 2 N
2. 8 N
3. 0.5 N
4. 0 N

Answer 1

According to Newton's third law of motion, every action has an equal and opposite reaction. This means that if the wind exerts a force of 8 N on the lawn chair, the lawn chair will exert an equal and opposite force of 8 N on the wind.

When the lawn chair collides with the fence, the fence will exert a reaction force on the chair that is also equal in magnitude and opposite in direction to the force exerted by the chair on the fence. Therefore, the reaction force that the fence exerts on the chair is also 8 N.

So the correct answer is: 2. 8 N