Newton's third law
1
4.1
- noun
- Specialized
:
tercera ley de Newton
- Newton's third law.
- Newton's third law of motion
Examples
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In a rocket launch, Newton's third law states that the force of the rocket engine pushing downward causes an equal and opposite reaction that propels the rocket upward.
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The internal force provided by an engine directed to cause the "outer edge" to spin would simultaneously cause the "inner portion" to rotate in the opposite direction with equal force, per Newton's third law.
Blog text (8) -
As Newton's third law says, for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.
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Giving us Newton's third law of physics... that says every action has an equal... - and opposite...?
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The plane moves because the jets push air, and according to Newton's third law, the air pushes back.
Blog text (21) -
Newton's third law.
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PS2.A: "Any two interacting objects exert forces of equal magnitude on each other in opposite directions (Newton's third law).
Academic text (2013) -
When you jump off a small boat, you move forward while the boat moves backward due to Newton's third law, which says every action has an equal and opposite reaction.
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Newton's third law explains why when two cars collide, the impact force is equal on both cars, demonstrating that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.
Synonyms
1
4.2
Every push on an object causes an equal push back in the opposite direction
1
3.9
Every force causes an equal force in the opposite direction
1
4.1
Every push or pull makes an equal force in the opposite direction
Surface Forms
Morphology
Knowing 'Newton's' (a person's name), 'third' (ordinal), and 'law' (a scientific rule) lets a learner infer this is the third law attributed to Newton, so the lexical composition supplies partial meaning. However, the specific propositional content of the law ('for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction') cannot be derived from the words alone and requires subject-matter knowledge, so the expression is only partially transparent to a B1 learner.
Etymology
Newton's third law gives a simple picture: when you push something, it pushes back on you. So when a gun fires and kicks back, or a rocket pushes gas backwards and the rocket moves forward, the law shows 'for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction'.