A horse pulls forward on a carriage with a given force. By Newton's Third Law, the carriage must be pulling on the horse backward with an equal and opposite force. Given this, why does the horse and carriage move forward?

The cart's force is only in reaction to the horse's force so it does not define direction of movement

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The forward and backward forces are equal, so it actually can't move forward

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The horse's hooves apply backward force on the ground and the ground applies same force on horse forward.

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The forward force of the horse is just big enough to overcome the backward force of the cart and start the cart forward

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Solution

The correct option is C The horse's hooves apply backward force on the ground and the ground applies same force on horse forward.
The horse's hooves apply backward force on the ground and the ground applies same force on horse forward. When the horse applies more force on the ground than the force cart applies on the horse, they move.

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Similar questions

A horse is harnessed to a cart. If the horse tries to pull the cart, the horse must exert a force on the cart. By Newton's third law the cart must then exert an equal and opposite force on the horse. Since the two forces are equal and opposite, they must add to zero, so Newton's second law tells us that the acceleration of the system must be zero and therefore no matter how hard the horse pulls, it can never move the cart.

Q. When a horse pulls a cart, the force which helps the horse to move forward is the force exerted by

Which of these statements are true?

(A) The horse applies a force on the cart and the cart pulls the horse back with a force equal and opposite in direction.

(B) The horse applies a force on the cart and the cart applies a force on the ground.

(D) The two forces in option A are acting on two different bodies and don’t cancel each other.

Q. A cart driver prods his horse to move forward. The horse refuses to budge and explains:
According to Newton's III Law, I am pulling the cart, with a certain force and the cart, in turn, pulls me back with an equal amount of force. As they are equal in magnitude and act in opposite directions, they cancel each other.
Do you agree with the explanation given by the horse? Support your answer with proper reasons.

When a horse exerts a force on cart , the cart exerts an equal and opposite force on the horse. Then how come the horse can manage to pull the cart ?

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