Swing: Newton's Third Law

 

Newton's third law states that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.  Meaning that if A pushes B with x amount of force, than B pushes back with x amount of force, or, if A pulls B with x amount of force, than B pulls A with x amount of force.

In this video I demonstrate Newton's third law.  I push the swing with x amount of force, causing it to go forward (the direction I push), the swing pushes back at me with an equal amount of force.  However, the swing moves more because it accelerates more.  Using Newton's Second Law's equation (a=net force/mass), it makes more sense.  Since the swing has a lot less mass than me, it accelerates more.  But, because I comparatively have a lot more mass, my acceleration (backwards) is very small.