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Single Idea 17019

[filed under theme 27. Natural Reality / A. Classical Physics / 1. Mechanics / b. Laws of motion ]

Full Idea

Law 3: To any action there is always an opposite and equal reaction; in other words, the action of two bodies upon each other are always equal and always opposite in direction.

Gist of Idea

3: All actions of bodies have an equal and opposite reaction

Source

Isaac Newton (Principia Mathematica [1687], Axioms)

Book Ref

Newton,Isaac: 'Philosophical Writings' [CUP 2004], p.71


A Reaction

Is this still true if one body is dented by the impact and the other one isn't? What counts as a 'body'?

Related Idea

Idea 24064 If something is pushed, it pushes back [Aristotle]


The 50 ideas from Isaac Newton

Principles of things are not hidden features of forms, but the laws by which they were formed [Newton]
Newtonian causation is changes of motion resulting from collisions [Newton, by Baron/Miller]
You have discovered that elliptical orbits result just from gravitation and planetary movement [Newton, by Leibniz]
Newton's idea of force acting over a long distance was very strange [Heisenberg on Newton]
Newton introduced forces other than by contact [Newton, by Papineau]
Newton's laws cover the effects of forces, but not their causes [Newton, by Papineau]
Newton's forces were accused of being the scholastics' real qualities [Pasnau on Newton]
Newton developed a kinematic approach to geometry [Newton, by Kitcher]
If you changed one of Newton's concepts you would destroy his whole system [Heisenberg on Newton]
Mass is central to matter [Newton, by Hart,WD]
Newton's Third Law implies the conservation of momentum [Newton, by Papineau]
Newton's four fundamentals are: space, time, matter and force [Newton, by Russell]
Newton showed that falling to earth and orbiting the sun are essentially the same [Newton, by Ellis]
Early Newtonians could not formulate conservation of energy, having no concept of potential energy [Newton, by Papineau]
Newton needs intervals of time, to define velocity and acceleration [Newton, by Le Poidevin]
Newton thought his laws of motion needed absolute time [Newton, by Bardon]
Newton reclassified vertical motion as violent, and unconstrained horizontal motion as natural [Newton, by Harré]
Inertia rejects the Aristotelian idea of things having natural states, to which they return [Newton, by Alexander,P]
Newtonian mechanics does not distinguish negative from positive values of time [Newton, by Coveney/Highfield]
I suspect that each particle of bodies has attractive or repelling forces [Newton]
We have given up substantial forms, and now aim for mathematical laws [Newton]
I am studying the quantities and mathematics of forces, not their species or qualities [Newton]
An attraction of a body is the sum of the forces of their particles [Newton]
3: All actions of bodies have an equal and opposite reaction [Newton]
2: Change of motion is proportional to the force [Newton]
1: Bodies rest, or move in straight lines, unless acted on by forces [Newton]
If a perfect being does not rule the cosmos, it is not God [Newton]
The elegance of the solar system requires a powerful intellect as designer [Newton]
From the phenomena, I can't deduce the reason for the properties of gravity [Newton]
Science deduces propositions from phenomena, and generalises them by induction [Newton]
Particles mutually attract, and cohere at short distances [Newton]
We should admit only enough causes to explain a phenomenon, and no more [Newton]
Natural effects of the same kind should be assumed to have the same causes [Newton]
I am not saying gravity is essential to bodies [Newton]
Absolute space is independent, homogeneous and immovable [Newton]
The place of a thing is the sum of the places of its parts [Newton]
Philosophy must abstract from the senses [Newton]
If there is no uniform motion, we cannot exactly measure time [Newton]
Time exists independently, and flows uniformly [Newton]
Absolute time, from its own nature, flows equably, without relation to anything external [Newton]
Quantities and ratios which continually converge will eventually become equal [Newton]
The aim is to discover forces from motions, and use forces to demonstrate other phenomena [Newton]
The motions of the planets could only derive from an intelligent agent [Newton]
The principles of my treatise are designed to fit with a belief in God [Newton]
I do not pretend to know the cause of gravity [Newton]
Not all infinites are equal [Newton]
We can talk of 'innumerable number', about the infinite points on a line [Newton]
That gravity should be innate and essential to matter is absurd [Newton]
I won't object if someone shows that gravity consistently arises from the action of matter [Newton]
A number is not a multitude, but a unified ratio between quantities [Newton]