Applying newton's 3rd law i can't understand how can a horse pull a cart???

Question

newton's 3rd law states that every action has an equal and opposite reaction so if the horse puts an force on the cart, it will oppose the horse with the same force then how can the horse ever pull the cart???

Answer 1

newtons 3rd law does apply to the cart but newtons 1st law is more noticeable. that (Every object in a state of uniform motion tends to remain in that state of motion unless an external force is applied to it) or for us lay people a body in motion tends to stays in motion till acted on by an outside force or a body at rest tends to stay at rest till acted upon by an outside force apply here if you are talking horse and cart. the cart is at rest till the horse pulls it. The third law is there but in a very finite form. Below is a website that explains it better then I could. It explains it better with tug of war

Answer 2

Once the force of the horse on the cart overcomes the cart's inertia, the cart starts moving. The forces acting upon the cart are balanced, so it is not accelerating, but it is still moving.

Answer 3

For example. If you are holding an apple in your hand, the force that is pushing the apple down (ie. gravity) is opposite and equal to the force that is holding it up (ie. your hand).

If you let go of the apple, then only gravity would be pulling it down.

OR example, a fish swimming through the water. The fish uses it's fins to push itself forward. If only one force were working (ie. the fins) then the movement would only cause the water to be pushed backwards and the fish wouldn't move. But the water must be also exerting force on the fins which allows the fish to move forward.

Answer 4

The cart moves because of the force from the ground. The horse applies force on ground and the ground pushes the horse.

Answer 5

Actually his rule applied only on gravity.

If you throw a ball on air it will come back.

But in this case of cart and horse there is no gravity involved. The gravity here is just the gravity with which horse is standing on the ground.

Hope i helped

Answer 6

well to understand newtons 3rd law.

i remember what my previous teacher thought me.

for example.

you hit your hand on the table, you are putting force down on the table while the table is stopping your hand from going all the way down. the table pushes your hand up.

to answer your question. doesnt that mean, that the horse and the cart arent actually moving.