A horse harnessed to a wagon refuses to pull,citing Newton's third law,which states that for every force there is an equal but opposite reaction force.The horse,incorrect in its reasoning,can pull the wagon because
A)after it gives a jerk and the wagon is moving,its pulling force will be greater than the reaction to this force.
B)the law applies only to static cases.
C)the wagon cannot possibly pull back with a force equal in magnitude to the pulling force.
D)the action and reaction forces are acting on different bodies.
E)after friction is overcome,the reaction force is less than the pulling force.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Newton's third law states that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. In the case of the horse pulling the wagon, the horse exerts a force on the wagon (the action), and the wagon exerts an equal and opposite force on the horse (the reaction). However, this does not mean that the horse cannot pull the wagon. Once the horse gives a jerk to the wagon and starts to move it, the pulling force of the horse will be greater than the reaction force of the wagon. As long as the pulling force is greater than the opposing forces (such as friction), the horse can continue to pull the wagon.

A Horse Harnessed to a Wagon Refuses to Pull,citing Newton's