Question

When a sailor jumps out of a boat in forward direction, the boat moves backward. Explain the reason for this observation and state Newton's law governing this observation.

Answer 1

1. When passengers on a boat start getting out of the boat, they push the boat backward with their feet.
2. As per Newton's third law of motion, the boat exerts an equal and opposite force on the passengers in the forward direction.
3. As the boat is in water, so it moves backward due to the force exerted by the passengers.
4. Sliding the back of the boat will not allow passengers to get out of the boat.
5. That is why the boatman ties his boat to prevent it from sliding back into the water.
6. Newton's third law governs this condition and it states that to every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, action and reaction act on different bodies.