According to the third law of motion, when we push an object, the object pushes us back with an equal and opposite force. If the object is a massive truck parked along the roadside, it will probably not move. A student justifies this by answering that the two opposite and equal forces cancel each other. Comment on this logic and explain why the truck does not move.

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Solution

The action and reaction forces never act on a single body.
Since they act on different bodies, they cannot get cancelled. Therefore, the justification given by the student that two opposite and equal forces cancel each other is incorrect.
The truck does not move because the force applied is less than the maximum force of friction between the truck and the road.

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