Question

Critique the following statement as True or False, based on Newton's third Law (AKA Action-Reaction):Two students are on ice skates, throwing a ball toward one another. One student, Jessica, is on the left side, and the other student, Jerry, is on the right side. They are separated by 1 meter of distance. After Jessica throws the ball forward (LaTeX: \longrightarrow) towards Jerry, she slides backward (LaTeX: \longleftarrow) , and when Jerry catches the ball (the ball moving toward him), he slides in the direction of the ball hits him (LaTeX: \longrightarrow), so their distance of separation gets larger.Group of answer choicesTRUEFALSE

Answer 1

The given statement is true.

Newton's third law states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. That is for every force there is a reaction force that has the same magnitude but will be acting in the opposite direction.

Thus, when the student throws the ball by applying a certain force, the ball, in turn, applies a force on the student in the opposite direction, which causes the student to slide backwards. And when the other student applies a force to stop the ball, the ball applies a force in the opposite direction. This force causes Jerry to slide in the direction of the ball.

Thus the given statement is true.