Newton's third law confusion

Asked May 05 '16 at 10:26

Active May 05 '16 at 10:36

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If A exerts a force of 200N on B, then by newton's third law, 200N would be exerted on it. Similarly, if B exerts 100N on A, by newton's third law, 100N would be exerted on it. Therefore the net forces acting on both would be 300N in opposite directions. In this case how would A accelerate forward?

edited May 05 '16 at 10:36

Qmechanic

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asked May 05 '16 at 10:26

xasthor

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Possible duplicate: With Newton's third law, why are things capable of moving? – lemon May 05 '16 at 10:35
I'm not saying they won't move. I'm asking why they both wouldn't move in opposite directions with 300/M acceleration. – xasthor May 05 '16 at 12:00
@lemon its a completely different question please look closer into it. In this, hand A is exerting 200N and hand B 100N – xasthor May 05 '16 at 18:34
No it's the same question, just formulated in terms of two hands pushing against each other rather than a finger versus friction acting on a matchbox. The physics is the same. – lemon May 05 '16 at 18:37

Newton's third law confusion

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