Single correct option
A passenger standing in a bus lurches forward when the driver suddenly applies the brakes. This is explained by
- A. the law of conservation of energy
- B. Newton's third law
- C. Archimedes' principle
- D. the law of inertia
Show answer and solution
Answer: (D) the law of inertia
The passenger's body is moving along with the bus. When the bus stops suddenly, the lower part stops with it through friction, but the upper body tends to continue in its state of motion because of inertia, and so it lurches forward. Newton's first law, the law of inertia, covers this. Newton's third law concerns action-reaction pairs acting on different bodies, which does not explain the effect.
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