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Expert: Daniel Mazur - 7/24/2008


Question
Hi Daniel,
Why when you would hit a soft object will newtons 3rd law not apply and an equal and opposite force not occur?

Answer
Hi Jeff,
Newtons' 3rd law makes no difference between soft and hard objects. A difference occurs in the question, how much energy is recuperated  in the mechanical (kinetic) energy and how much will be lost in permanent deformation and heating (that's the case of soft objects).
Take care,
Daniel

Careers: Physics

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Questions anyone (teenager, undergrad, graduate, professional) may ask on physics, mathematics or inorganic chemistry. Questions may concern subjects themselves or a possible future career in them, if you need advice on a school or hobby project, or you just came across a question that is beyond your current curriculum. I answer bare textbook problems sometimes, but I reserve the the right to redirect you to Physics-Physics section. The kind of questions I like to answer: I just started having science classes at school and they seem difficult, but I enjoy them. Where do I find more information on this, which is not in textbooks but still comprehensible to me? Just leaving high school, and I feel science is really the thing for me. Can you recommend a school and an undergrad program suitable to my inclinations? I am in my second undergraduate year in Physics. We learned the basics of universe expanding this year, the Hubble constant and all that, but invited speakers that gave talks on astrophysics in our department seemed not to agree with this model at all. Is it of any use at all? I am building a [materials research] experimental device for my masters/doctorate thesis and I have the following problem:... I have tried ..., but it still doesn't work. Where might the problem be?

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