Which law states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction?

Which law states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction?

• A. Newton's First Law of Motion
• B. Law of Conservation of Energy
• C. Newton's Third Law of Motion
• D. Newton's Second Law of Motion

Answer: (C)

The main concept being tested is that forces come in equal and opposite pairs during interactions. For every force a body exerts on another, the second body pushes back with the same magnitude in the opposite direction. This action-reaction relationship explains why forces never occur alone—they come in matched pairs and preserve momentum in interactions. This is exactly what Newton's Third Law of Motion states. A good way to see it is through real-life examples: when you push against a wall, you feel the wall push back on you with the same strength in the opposite direction; when a rocket expels gas backward, the rocket itself is pushed forward. The other ideas don’t describe this pairwise force interaction. The first law describes inertia—an object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion unless a net external force acts. The conservation of energy deals with how energy transforms but not how forces pair up. Newton's Second Law links the net force to acceleration (F = ma) but doesn't specify the equal-and-opposite force on another object.

The main concept being tested is that forces come in equal and opposite pairs during interactions. For every force a body exerts on another, the second body pushes back with the same magnitude in the opposite direction. This action-reaction relationship explains why forces never occur alone—they come in matched pairs and preserve momentum in interactions.

This is exactly what Newton's Third Law of Motion states. A good way to see it is through real-life examples: when you push against a wall, you feel the wall push back on you with the same strength in the opposite direction; when a rocket expels gas backward, the rocket itself is pushed forward.

The other ideas don’t describe this pairwise force interaction. The first law describes inertia—an object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion unless a net external force acts. The conservation of energy deals with how energy transforms but not how forces pair up. Newton's Second Law links the net force to acceleration (F = ma) but doesn't specify the equal-and-opposite force on another object.