Question
5 4 points A butterfly is hit by a truck on the highway. Compare the force of the truck on the butterfly to the force of the butterfly on the truck. The butterfly exerts a much larger force on the truck than the force exerted by the truck on the butterfly. The truck exerts a much larger force on the butterfly than the force exerted by the butterfly on the truck. The ratio of the force of butterfly on truck to the force of truck on butterfly depends on how fast the truck was moving. The force on the butterfly and the force on the truck are equal.
Answer
4.2
(201 Votes)
Norman
Elite · Tutor for 8 years
Answer
The force on the butterfly and the force on the truck are equal.
Explanation
Invoking Newton's Third Law, which states that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction, we can analyze this situation. This law implies that whenever two objects interact, they exert equal and opposite forces on each other. In the case of the butterfly and the truck, despite the vast difference in their masses and the impact it might seem to have, the law holds true. The size, mass, or speed of the objects do not affect the equality of the force they exert on each other. Therefore, the force the truck exerts on the butterfly is exactly equal in magnitude to the force the butterfly exerts on the truck. The difference lies in the effect of this force, which is much more noticeable on the butterfly due to its much smaller mass, leading to a significantly higher acceleration compared to that of the truck.