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1- A father tosses his baby into the air, and then catches the baby.

During the toss


while the father is still touching the baby...
a) The father and the baby exert the same amount of force on each other.
b) The father exerts a force on the baby but the baby does not exert any force
on the father.
c) The father and the baby each exert a force on the other, but the father exerts
the larger force.
d) The father and the baby each exert a force on the other, but the baby exerts
the larger force.

The correct answer is “a”.


Only 48% of students correctly answered a similar question on the Test of
Concepts administered to STEM school seniors in 2014. Students usually choose
the incorrect answer “c”. Students who answer “c” believe that the more
massive object exerts more force on the less massive object. In fact, the forces
are the same, but the less massive object is less resistant to acceleration and
therefore accelerates more.

2- You are familiar with the fact that a rifle recoils when fired. The bullet pushes
backwards upon the rifle. The force that the rifle exerts on the bullet is...
a) Smaller than the force the bullet exerts on the rifle.
b) The same magnitude as the force the bullet exerts on the rifle.
c) greater than the force the bullet exerts on the rifle.
d) Zero since the rifle recoils at uniform velocity.
The correct answer is “b”.
This is similar to question #1 and tests a fundamental understanding of Newton’s
Third Law.

3- You are familiar with the fact that a rifle recoils when fired. The bullet pushes
backwards upon the rifle. The acceleration of the recoiling rifle is ...
c) Smaller than the acceleration of the bullet.
d) The same magnitude as the acceleration of the bullet.
c) greater than the acceleration of the bullet.
d) Zero since the rifle recoils at uniform velocity.
On a STEM school midterm administered during the 2014-2015 school year, only 35% of
students got #3 correct by answering “A”.

This question works together with question 2 to describe the compete situation:
Because of Newton’s Third Law the bullet and the rifle each experience the same force.
Since the forces are the same, the less massive object (the bullet) experiences more
acceleration. This is true because of Newton’s Second Law, F=ma.
Misconceptions:
1. Many students confuse equal force with equal acceleration. The force on the bullet
and on the rifle are equal, but because F=ma the larger-mass object (the rifle) has a
smaller acceleration.
2. Some students do not understand “uniform velocity”. For the rifle to recoil, it starts
with 0 magnitude velocity and then later has a velocity of greater magnitude. Thus, the
velocity is NOT uniform and the acceleration is NOT zero.

4N A
4- Using the figure at right, how many action and reaction forces 6N B
involving book B can be identified?
a) one action force and one reaction force
b) two action forces and two reaction forces
c) three action forces and three reaction forces
d) three action forces and one reaction force
Only 54% of students got #4 correct by answering “C”.
First action/reaction pair: Book A presses down on Book B, while Book B presses up on
Book A.
Second action-reaction pair: Book B presses down on the table, while the table presses
up on book B.
Third action-reaction pair: Because of gravity, the Earth pulls down on book B while
book B pulls up on the Earth.
Misconceptions:
1. 29% of students answered “B”. They probably believed that action-reaction pairs
only happen with contact forces, and therefore ignore the action-reaction pair between
the book and the Earth. In Day 2 the worksheet “Newton’s Third Law: Forces at a
distance” is meant to address this misconception.
5- A metal block is suspended by your hand through a string. The reaction to
the force of gravity on the block is the force exerted by:
a) the string on the block
b) the block on the string
c) the string on your hand
d) the block on Earth

Only 16% of students got #5 correct by answering “D”.


Misconceptions:
1. Larger numbers selected EACH of the three incorrect answers than selected the
correct answer “D”. They probably believed that action-reaction pairs only happen with
contact forces, and therefore ignore the action-reaction pair between the block and the
Earth. In Day 2 the worksheet “Newton’s Third Law: Forces at a distance” is meant to
address this misconception.
2. Some students may be confused by everyday experience into unconsciously assuming
that the Earth really doesn’t accelerate—even though they can state that the Earth does
move. If the Earth experiences a force, it does accelerate!
3. The effect of the block on the Earth is too small for us to notice, because the mass of
the Earth is so much greater than the mass of the block. Some students may assume
incorrectly that if the block affected the Earth we would be able to notice it.

6- The action-reaction forces we encounter in Newton's Third Law


a) Always cancel each other out.
b) Always act on different objects.
c) They disappear once the object starts motion.
d) May be perpendicular to each other in some cases.

Only 31% of students got #6 correct by answering “B”.


Misconceptions:
1. 50% of the students incorrectly chose “A”. This is a common misunderstanding.
Although the two forces in an action-reaction pair are equal and opposite, you cannot
add them to get a “net force” of zero. This is because the two forces act on two
different objects. For example, if X exerts a force on Y of 7 Newtons East, then Y exerts a
force on X of 7 Newtons West. Assuming no other forces are present, the net force on Y
is still 7 Newtons, and Y still accelerates Eastward. Similarly, X will accelerate Westward,
at a rate of 7/m where m is the mass of object X.
2. 14% of students incorrectly chose option “D” and 7% of students incorrectly chose
option “C”. These misconceptions are possible because students don’t realize that
action-reaction pairs always act on two different objects, and always act in opposite
directions (and therefore cannot be perpendicular).
7- A man is attempting to push a chair across the floor exerting a force of 50 N
on the chair. When will the chair exert a force of 50 N on the man?

a) only if the man and the chair are at rest


b) only if the man and the chair are accelerating
c) only if the man and the chair are moving with constant velocity
d) in all of the above cases

Only 62% of students got #7 correct by answering “D”.


Misconceptions:
1. Most students who got the problem wrong incorrectly chose “A” or “C”. Situations
“A” and “C” are the cases where the net force on the chair is zero. This means that the
force of the man pushing the chair is balanced by the resisting force (probably
friction)—but the force of friction on the chair is not the same as the force of the chair
on the man. The 50 N of the chair pushing on the man does not cancel the 50 N of the
man pushing on the chair because the two forces are on two different objects.

8- In the previous question, the man succeeded in moving the chair at constant
velocity.
Then, the frictional force with the floor is …
a) Equal to 50 N
b) greater than 50 N
c) less than 50N
d) zero

Only 46% of students got #8 correct by answering “A”.


Misconceptions:
1. Most students who got the problem wrong incorrectly chose “C” or “D”. This is a
misconception about Newton’s first and second law, not the third law. If the chair is
moving at constant velocity, then forces on it must be balanced. The force of friction
must equal the force exerted by the man pushing the chair forward. Otherwise, the
chair would experience acceleration. The acceleration would be positive if the frictional
force were less than 50 N, as in answer “C” or “D”. The acceleration would be if the
frictional force were greater than 50 Newtons.
9- According to Newton’s Third Law, if the horse pulls the carriage, the carriage
pulls back with an equal and opposite force. How can the horse move the
carriage?
a) Newton’s Third Law does not apply to the
horse and the carriage because the
carriage is on wheels.
b) The carriage moves only if it has less mass
than the horse.
c) The horse pulls the carriage before it has
time to react.
d) The force of the carriage on the horse does not cancel the force of the horse
on the carriage because the two forces act on different objects.

Misconceptions:

1. Students don’t realize that the two forces in an action-reaction pair always act on
different objects and therefore never cancel each other out. The two forces cannot be
added.

Note: This is a rewritten problem, so we are not sure how well students would have
done.

10- A child leaves a small wagon on the street and goes indoors. A few minutes
later, a large car accidentally crashes into the child’s small wagon. Which of the
following is true?

a) the car exerts a greater amount of force on the small wagon than the
small wagon exerts on the car
b) e small wagon exerts a greater amount of force on the car than the car
exerts on the small wagon.
c) neither exerts a force on the other, the small wagon gets smashed simply
because it gets in the way of the car.
d) the car exerts a force on the small wagon but the small wagon does not
exert a force on the car.
e) the car exerts the same amount of force on the small wagon as the small
wagon exerts on the car.

On a similar item, only 49% of students got #10 correct by answering “E”.
Misconceptions:
1. 46% of students incorrectly answered “A”. This is the opposite difficulty from the
difficulty students had with problem #3 on this worksheet. Students do not realize that
the smaller object experiences more acceleration because it has less mass—but the
FORCES are the same.

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