action reaction
Equal opposite forces
Action reaction refers to Newton's third law of motion: every action produces an equal and opposite reaction.
When you push against a wall, the wall pushes back with equal force.
The phrase extends beyond physics to describe any cause-and-effect dynamic where one event triggers a corresponding response: It's all action reaction—you raise tariffs, they raise tariffs.
- forceStrength or compulsion
- momentumProduct of mass, velocity
- causeWhat produces an effect
- effectResult of a cause
- cause and effectHow events produce results
equal · opposite · Newton · Newton's third law · physics · push · pull · push and pull · response · knee jerk · consequence · impulse · collision · bounce · recoil · kickback · chain · domino effect
- classical physicsNewton, Newton's laws, Newtonian physics, laws of motion, force
- mechanicsforce, turning, rotation, momentum, velocity
- lawslaws, statute, ordinance, acts, statutes
action reactionunilateral action
non-reciprocal · unidirectional · one-sided · passivity · stasis
action reactionrandom occurrence
action, reaction, react, active, reactive, actor, reactor, acting, reacting