Exerting a force

Classical Mechanics Level 1

A strong magnet and a weak magnet attract each other. Which magnet exerts the stronger force?

Neither of them, they exert the same force on each other None of the above, (Don't be stupid and pick this) The strong magnet The weak magnet

Robert Fritz by Robert Fritz , 20, USA

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5 solutions

Robert Fritz
Mar 5, 2014

Newton's third law states that every force has an equal and opposite reacting force. This also means that forces come in pairs in case that helps.

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Kind of like when you stand on the ground, you're pushing Earth down as much as Earth is pushing you up. If structural engineers didn't know this, buildings and bridges that they design would fall down.

Michael Mendrin - 7 years, 3 months ago

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Exactly. The example in my book is if you lean on a wall, it exerts a force to keep you in equilibrium. If it didn't you would probably fall over.

Robert Fritz - 7 years, 3 months ago

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In my reference to structural engineers, when calculations are done for, say, a bridge, in the static case, at every joint and connection, all the forces are in equilibrium. By imposing this requirement, for "determinate' structural arrangements, the forces acting on each structural member is unique and can be worked out. Hence the term "determinate". Think of trusses.

There is actually an analogy with electronic circuits, using Kirchhoff's Rules, in non-time-varying cases.

Michael Mendrin - 7 years, 3 months ago

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@Michael Mendrin – Hmmm, I've never thought of it completely like that.

Robert Fritz - 7 years, 3 months ago

Easy question. Simply common sense!!!!

Z K - 7 years, 2 months ago

ummm... then..... How do you decide which magnet is stronger if both exert an equal force? I know i dint get this right.

milind prabhu - 7 years, 2 months ago
Rafay Ahmed Tariq
Mar 22, 2014

exerted force is equal in magnitude but will opposite in direction

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Bo Yang
Mar 12, 2014

If the stronger magnet pulls on a lump if iron, it is excreting its force on it ("strong" force). If the weaker magnet pulls on the same lump, it excretes less force upon it. However, the force of the magnets if they both pulled on the lump of iron (without interfering with each other, pretend this is possible) is the same if they attracted each other. Because I know practically nothing about magnetism, I look at it in numbers. Small magnet's force: 3 units of something. Larger magnet's force: 5 units of something. 5+3=8, they both attract 8 units of something on each other.

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Abdullah Hassan
Mar 12, 2014

newton 3rd law

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explain this

Abdul Rehman - 7 years, 2 months ago
Finn Hulse
Mar 5, 2014

Magnetic attraction isn't a force being emitted from an object, like a laser gun. You could say "Oh, that guy has a really strong laser gun and it will blast the other guys really weak laser gun.", but in the case of magnetism, it's just an attraction between them.

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Ok. I've learned a very valuable lesson today!

Robert Fritz - 7 years, 3 months ago

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hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

sameer vaghela - 7 years, 2 months ago

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Hello random person!

Robert Fritz - 7 years, 2 months ago

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