a farmer urges, a horse to pull a wagon. The horse refuses saying to try would be futile for it would flout Newton's third Law.

a farmer urges, a horse to pull a wagon. The horse refuses saying to try would be futile for it would flout Newton's third Law. The horse concludes that she can't exert a greater force on the wagon than the wagon exerts on her and therefore won't be able to accelerate the wagon. What is your explanation to convince the horse to pull?

 

Answer

forces do not cancel out because they act on different bodies also the forces acting on the horse is not just the force he exerts on the wagon he also applies force on the ground so the static friction on the ground helps the horse move forward forces acting on the horse are friction in its direction of motion and the tension opposing motion if the surface has enough friction he can always move draw the free body diagrams youwill understand. if the horse was on a frictionless surface. it wont be able to move.