The discussion centers on the conditions under which Newton's Third Law applies in a weak form, particularly in the context of electromagnetic forces. Participants explore examples and implications of this application, including the behavior of charges and associated magnetic fields.
Participants express differing views on the application of Newton's Third Law in the context of electromagnetic forces, particularly regarding the behavior of forces and momentum conservation. The discussion remains unresolved with multiple competing perspectives presented.
Participants do not reach a consensus on the specifics of the weak form application of Newton's Third Law, and there are unresolved aspects regarding the definitions and implications of forces in electromagnetic contexts.
Consider two identical charges moving along the x and y axes with same speed away from the origin. The electrical forces between them is repulsive, but now just find out how the magnetic forces between them behave. You don't have to calculate -- just roughly think of the charges as currents and find the direction of the associated magnetic fields like we do for currents.
The total force of one on the other is equal to the force of the other on the former, but they are not opposite.
Ultimately, momentum will be conserved, because the fields themselves carry momentum.