Research

Bobrowsky, M. Science 101 Q: What’s Wrong With “For Every Action, There is an Equal and Opposite Reaction”? Science and Children, (March 2019): 69–73.

Summary: This article explains how forces act on each other. It asks readers to clap their hands together to see that they feel the same amount of force from each hand and that the forces are equal in strength and opposite in direction. Similarly, magnets can either attract or repel each other, but the forces from each magnet are the same and occur simultaneously. Many students are surprised to learn that when gravity acts on an object, like an apple falling to the ground, the apple also exerts a small gravitational tug on the Earth. Students should know that forces come in pairs. Students can observe a set of blocks stacked on top of each other and try to identify all of the pairs of forces.