Question
Air is thrown on a sail attached to a boat from an electric fan placed on the second boat nearby the sailboat. Will the sailboat start moving?
Solution
According to Newton's third law, action and reaction are equal and opposite and acts on two different bodies.
Here, in this case fan and sail are on two different boats. Therefore, air thrown by fan on the sail will exert external force. So, reaction will be on the second boat on which the fan is placed. Thus action and reaction are on two different boats. Hence, the boats will be set into motion.
