If you push against a wall, the wall pushes back against you with equal force. This is an example of which principle?

If you push against a wall, the wall pushes back against you with equal force. This is an example of which principle?

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

Answer: (B)

Newton's third law says that forces come in equal and opposite pairs when two objects interact. When you push on a wall, you apply a force to the wall, and the wall responds with an equal and opposite force on you. These forces act on different objects and happen simultaneously, so they don’t cancel each other out for a single object. The wall’s push on you and your push on the wall illustrate how interactions transfer momentum between bodies. This isn’t about inertia (the first law) or a direct F = ma relation for one object (the second law), and it isn’t about momentum conservation for a whole system by itself—the focus here is the paired, opposing forces arising from the interaction.

Newton's third law says that forces come in equal and opposite pairs when two objects interact. When you push on a wall, you apply a force to the wall, and the wall responds with an equal and opposite force on you. These forces act on different objects and happen simultaneously, so they don’t cancel each other out for a single object. The wall’s push on you and your push on the wall illustrate how interactions transfer momentum between bodies. This isn’t about inertia (the first law) or a direct F = ma relation for one object (the second law), and it isn’t about momentum conservation for a whole system by itself—the focus here is the paired, opposing forces arising from the interaction.