A bird pushes down on the air with its wings in order to fly demonstrates which law?

A bird pushes down on the air with its wings in order to fly demonstrates which law?

• A. Newton's Third Law of Motion
• B. Newton's Second Law of Motion
• C. The Law of Inertia
• D. Law of Universal Gravitation

Answer: (A)

When the bird pushes air downward with its wings, there is a matching push of air on the bird in the opposite direction. This is Newton's Third Law: forces come in equal and opposite pairs that act on two different objects. The downward push on the air creates an upward reaction force on the wings, producing lift that helps the bird rise and fly. The other laws describe how forces relate to motion in different ways—Second Law ties net force to acceleration, Inertia is the resistance to motion change, and Universal Gravitation describes attraction between masses—but they don’t capture this direct action–reaction interaction between the bird and the air.

When the bird pushes air downward with its wings, there is a matching push of air on the bird in the opposite direction. This is Newton's Third Law: forces come in equal and opposite pairs that act on two different objects. The downward push on the air creates an upward reaction force on the wings, producing lift that helps the bird rise and fly. The other laws describe how forces relate to motion in different ways—Second Law ties net force to acceleration, Inertia is the resistance to motion change, and Universal Gravitation describes attraction between masses—but they don’t capture this direct action–reaction interaction between the bird and the air.