A baseball player bats a ball with a force of 1,000 N. The ball exerts a reaction force against the bat of…
a. Less than 1,000 N
b. More than 1,000 N
c. 1,000 N
Why???
The Correct Answer and Explanation is:
The correct answer is c. 1,000 N.
Explanation:
According to Newton’s Third Law of Motion, every action has an equal and opposite reaction. This law explains the interaction between two objects when they exert forces on each other. In this case, the baseball player applies a force of 1,000 N on the ball when they bat it. According to Newton’s Third Law, the ball will exert a reaction force back onto the bat that is equal in magnitude but opposite in direction.
In other words, when the player hits the ball with 1,000 N of force, the ball exerts a force of 1,000 N in the opposite direction on the bat. These forces are equal in size but act in opposite directions. This principle holds regardless of the characteristics of the objects involved (e.g., the bat and the ball’s masses or velocities).
It’s important to note that while the forces are equal, they are not necessarily the same in terms of their effect on the objects. The ball and the bat might experience these forces differently because they have different masses and therefore different accelerations. For example, the bat, being much more massive than the ball, may not accelerate as much as the ball does. The ball, with its smaller mass, will likely experience a greater change in speed (higher acceleration) compared to the bat.
Thus, the ball exerts exactly 1,000 N of force on the bat, just as the bat exerts 1,000 N on the ball. These forces are equal in magnitude and opposite in direction, fulfilling the conditions set out by Newton’s Third Law of Motion.
In summary, the reaction force the ball exerts on the bat is 1,000 N, because the action and reaction forces between the ball and the bat are equal in magnitude, in line with Newton’s Third Law.