Question

1. In a circus trick, a clown lies on the ground flat on his back and holds his hand a few inches above his face, palm up. An elephant then lowers one foot and presses down on the clown's palm. In this situation, is the magnitude of the force on the clown by the elephant greater than, less than, or equal to the magnitude of the force on the elephant by the clown? Explain your reasoning. If there is not enough information to determine the answer, state that explicitly.

Answer 1

This is a case of action-reaction situation and according to newton's third law, the force by the elephant is equal in magnitude to the force exerted by the hand of the clown.