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  • A stone and the earth attract each other an equal and opposite force. Why then do we see only stone falling towards the earth but not the earth rising towards the stone ?

A stone and the earth attract each other an equal and opposite force. Why then do we see only stone falling towards the earth but not the earth rising towards the stone ?

Answers (1)

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  • According to Newton’s third law of motion, the stone and the Earth attract each other with equal and opposite forces.

  • However, the mass of the Earth is enormously large compared to the stone.

  • Acceleration produced in a body is given by:

    \[
    a = \frac{F}{m}
    \]  

  • For the stone: mass is small → acceleration is large → it falls easily towards the Earth.

  • For the Earth: mass is extremely large → acceleration is negligible → we don’t notice it moving towards the stone.

Hence, we see only the stone falling because the Earth’s acceleration towards the stone is too tiny to observe.

Posted by

Saumya Singh

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