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Chapter 4: Q7. (page 98)

If you walk on a log floating on a lake, why does the log move in the opposite direction?

Short Answer

Expert verified

If you walk on a log floating on a lake, the log moves in the opposite direction because you exert a force in the backward direction while walking on the log.

Step by step solution

01

Step 1. Newton’s third law of motion

Whenever a particle exerts a force on a second particle, the second particle exerts the opposite and same force on the first particle. For example, a balloon pushes the escaping air downward, and the escaping air pushes the balloon upward.

02

Step 2. Application of Newton’s third law of motion

When you walk east, you push on the ground with a westward force. Similarly, when you walk along a log floating on a lake, the log moves in the opposite direction because, according to Newton's third law of motion, you exert a force in the backward direction while walking on the log.

Hence, the log moves in the opposite direction.

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