Skip to Content Go to sign in Skip to Primary Navigation Skip to Secondary Navigation Skip to Page Navigation Skip to Header Navigation Skip to Footer Navigation Read more about accessability options and our navigation

Physics Classroom is making strides to make our site accessible to everyone. Our site contains 6 navigation areas. The Primary, Secondary, and Page Level navigations have a screen reader version of their nav structure that allows using the left and right keys to navigate sibling navigation items, and up or down keys to navigate parent or child navigation items. The others can be navigated using tabs. The Primary Navigation handles the first 2 levels of site pages. The Secondary (which is not always available) handles the 3rd and 4th level of structure. The Page level navigation allows you to navigate the current page's headings quickly. The Header Navigation contains the Light/Dark Mode toggle, Search, Notifications and account login. The Breadcrumb Navigation contains the breadcrumb of the current page. If the current page has a breadcrumb, you can get to it by skipping to the content and tabbing in reverse (shift plus tab). The Footer Navigation contains links such as Privacy, Contact, about and terms. Some resources contain an Audio Player that can be activated by holding down the T key for 3 seconds, and then using K to pause and resume. While not every area of Physics Classroom is usable purely from keyboard and screen reader, we are committed to continue work on making this possible. If you have questions or need additional help, please use this link to contact us.

Return to screen reader navigation
Home Minds On Newton's Laws Mission NL12 Newton's Third Law Help Help 4

Mission NL12 Newton's Third Law

The Question

A bird is able to fly due to the marvels of Newton's third law. Identify the two letters corresponding to the action-reaction FORCE pairs which are responsible for the bird's flight.

Physics Rules

Newton's Third Law:
For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

Think About It

Action-reaction force pairs explain much of the locomotion in this world. In the case of a bird, there is the interaction between the bird's wings and the air. Like any interaction, it is a mutual interaction between two objects that results in equal forces on both objects directed in opposite directions.
 
To answer this question correctly, look for the pair of action-reaction interactions between bird wings and air. The action and reaction statements should involve these same two objects. And the interactions should be directed in opposite directions.

Tune In! Listen!

Click the button below to play an audio file in a separate window.

Hot Link