Editing Reaction (physics) (section)

{{Short description|Reactive force occurring with every action (Newton's 3rd law of motion)}}
As described by the third of [[Newton's laws of motion]] of [[classical mechanics]], all forces occur in pairs such that if one object exerts a [[force]] on another object, then the second object exerts an equal and opposite reaction force on the first.<ref name=Taylor>{{cite book| last= Taylor| first= John R.| title= Classical Mechanics| year= 2005| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=P1kCtNr-pJsC| publisher= University Science Books| pages= 17–18| isbn= 9781891389221}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Shapiro|first1=Ilya L.|last2=de Berredo-Peixoto|first2=Guilherme|title=Lecture Notes on Newtonian Mechanics: Lessons from Modern Concepts|date=2013|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=978-1461478256|page=116|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EOS5BAAAQBAJ&q=all+forces+come+in+pairs&pg=PA116|access-date=28 September 2016}}</ref>  The third law is also more generally stated as:  "To every action there is always opposed an equal reaction: or the mutual actions of two bodies upon each other are always equal, and directed to contrary parts."<ref name=Scolium1>This translation of the third law and the commentary following it can be found in the "[[Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy|Principia]]" on [https://books.google.com/books?id=Tm0FAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA20 page 20 of volume 1 of the 1729 translation].</ref> The attribution of which of the two forces is the action and which is the '''reaction''' is arbitrary. Either of the two can be considered the action, while the other is its associated reaction.