Newton's Third Law and acceleration question

[matajee66]

Two wrestlers are pushing each other. Initially the wrestlers are at rest, however the small wrestler starts to move. Now in either cases, which wrestler exerts more force? My professor said that both exert the same amount of force on each other. This is really confusing as if they are applying equal forces on each other, how are they moving. Also say if the larger wrestler exerts 200 N and the smaller exerts 100 N, wouldn't the forces cancel out? If the larger one exerts 200 N, the smaller one then exerts the same force back right (the reaction force). The smaller wrestler exerts 100 N, then the larger would exert back the 100 N ( again Newton's Third Law). Doesnt this cancel out all forces, then how is there motion?

 

[dydxforsn]

Each man puts a force on the other that pushes them apart. Further, their is a reaction to each force that each applied on one another that pushes them still further apart. There are no forces that push the two men together. Finally, each man will receive twice the force pushing them apart if both apply an equal force on each other.You might also be confused that $F=ma$ or $a = \frac{F}{m}$. So the acceleration (their motion) is dependent not only on the force, but also on the mass of the object receiving the force. Thus each man depending on their mass will experience different acceleration or a different motion.

 

[matajee66]

see they don't push off each other, they are continually pushing

 

[Bandersnatch]

Think of a more simplified situation first:
A wrestler is pushing on a wall. He applies some force F to the wall, which acts with the same force on the wrestler, albeit in the opposite direction. That force is transferred through the wrestler's body to his feet, where friction acts against it. Once the push force is equal or higher than the friction, the wrestler starts to move.
The larger wrestler does the same, only he can apply higher force to the wall before he starts to move, since friction is dependent on wrestler's weight.

Now put these two together and remove the wall. As dydxforsn said, you get the reaction force of one's own push, plus the other guy's push force(which sum up to the same thing for both) acting on each of them. Since the smaller wrestler is not held so firmly in place(the friction between his feet and the ground is lower), he starts moving first.

In space, with no friction, both would start moving at the same time, each one accelerating according to F=ma.

 

[sardar]

According to Newton's Third Law, for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. This means that when the wrestlers push against each other, they are exerting the same amount of force on each other in opposite directions. So, in the scenario described, both wrestlers are exerting the same amount of force on each other.

However, this does not mean that the forces cancel out and there is no motion. In order for an object to accelerate, there must be a net force acting on it. In this case, the net force is not zero because the wrestlers are pushing in opposite directions. The wrestler who is able to exert a larger force will cause the other wrestler to accelerate in the direction of their push.

In the example given, if the larger wrestler exerts 200 N and the smaller wrestler exerts 100 N, the net force on the smaller wrestler would be 100 N in the direction of the larger wrestler's push. This would cause the smaller wrestler to accelerate in that direction.

It is important to note that the force of the larger wrestler may be greater, but it is also acting on a larger mass (since the wrestler is bigger). This results in the same acceleration for both wrestlers, as described by Newton's Second Law (F=ma).

In summary, both wrestlers are exerting equal and opposite forces on each other, but the net force and resulting acceleration will depend on the individual forces and masses of the wrestlers.