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

Steps 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:

  1. Place an amount of mass on 1 scooter roughly equal to that of your body weight.
  2. Tie one end of the rope to that scooter.
  3. Sit on the other scooter and pull on the rope.
The same result is achieved.  

Alternate Apparatus

Two moving pallets