When an object falls freely under the influence of gravity there is a net force Mg exerted on it by the earth. Yet by Newton's third law the object exerts an equal and opposite force on the earth. Does the earth move??
Yes, according to Newton's third law of motion, when an object exerts a force on another object, the second object exerts an equal and opposite force on the first object. In the case of an object falling freely under the influence of gravity, the object exerts a force on the Earth, and the Earth exerts an equal and opposite force on the object.
However, due to the vast difference in mass between the Earth and the object, the effect of the object's force on the Earth is negligible compared to the Earth's force on the object. As a result, the Earth does not noticeably move when the object falls freely under gravity.
Yes, according to Newton's third law of motion, for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. When an object falls freely under the influence of gravity, there is indeed a net force Mg acting on it due to the Earth's gravitational pull. As a result, the object exerts an equal and opposite force of magnitude Mg on the Earth.
While the Earth does experience a force from the falling object, its displacement or movement is negligible due to its significantly larger mass compared to the object. The mass of the Earth is about 5.972 × 10^24 kilograms, which is many orders of magnitude greater than the mass of any freely falling object. Consequently, the acceleration and displacement caused by the force exerted by the falling object on the Earth are too small to be observable. So, practically speaking, the Earth does not visibly move when an object falls freely under the influence of gravity.