Newton's 3rd Law on Scooters

Identifier: M: D - 003

Two scooters and a rope

Concept Overview:

  1. Newton's 3rd Law
  2. Action-Reaction Force Pairs

Lecturer Procedure

Step(s) to FollowExpected Result
  1. Have 2 students sit on the scooters roughly 15-20 feet apart.
  2. Have 1 hold the rope while the other tries to pull them together.
It does not matter who is pulling; both students can still move

Alternately:

Place an amount of mass on 1 scooter roughly equal to that of your body weight.

Tie one end of the rope to that scooter.

Sit on the other scooter and pull on the rope

The same result is achieved.  

Alternate Apparatus:

Two moving pallets