A Question about Flying Clothes Pegs

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When a clothes peg is pressed down and released, it snaps closed and moves forward due to the forces acting on it. The pressing force applied is not perfectly perpendicular to the peg's axis, resulting in components of this force that push it forward. Additionally, the reaction force from the surface beneath the peg contributes to this forward motion, as described by Newton's third law. The vector sum of these forces creates a significant forward component, propelling the peg. This principle is similar to historical demonstrations using cherry pits.
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When we press down a clothes peg (those big, plastic ones), and then let our fingers slip off it, the clothes peg will snap close and fly forward. Which force and its components are responsible for this forward motion?
 
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Because of the shape and slipperiness of the pegs, it is practically impossible to press down with a force truly at right angles to the peg's axis. So the pressing force, and its reaction force (Newton's third) upward from the surface the peg is lying on have both got components in the forward direction. And the vector sum of those two forces has a double component in that direction. It is this forward force that shoots the peg out.

This same demo used to be done with cherry pits in the old days.
 

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