# University breaks (Newton's 3rd) Law **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [April 8, 2017, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/university-breaks-newtons-3rd-law/784046 "2017-04-08T06:35:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![someone11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@someone11](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/someone11)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2017, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/university-breaks-newtons-3rd-law/784046/1 "2017-04-08T06:35:37Z")
> **[How do rockets work in the vacuum of space?](https://www.straightdope.com/21342984/how-do-rockets-work-in-the-vacuum-of-space)** > > A STAFF REPORT FROM THE STRAIGHT DOPE SCIENCE ADVISORY BOARD I often fail to remember which number law is which with regard to Newton’s laws of motion, so imagine my surprise when checking it out online at Rice University that they got the number correct but they had the actual law incorrect and made the exact same mistake that the NYTimes made when they lambasted Robert Goddard. I wrote to Rice University over six months ago asking them to correct this somewhat egregious error but as of today, it is still there festering like an unnoticed sore on the rectum of the University’s website. The University has broken the law. **The rocket’s action is to push down on the ground with the force of its powerful engines, and the reaction is that the ground pushes the rocket upwards with an equal force.** [http://teachertech.rice.edu/Participants/louviere/Newton/law3.html](http://teachertech.rice.edu/Participants/louviere/Newton/law3.html) [https://s2.postimg.org/6s26t6n7d/3rd\_Law.jpg](https://s2.postimg.org/6s26t6n7d/3rd_Law.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![g8rguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7cd45c/32.png) [@g8rguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/g8rguy)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2017, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/university-breaks-newtons-3rd-law/784046/2 "2017-04-08T07:58:44Z")
That’s disappointing, but had you checked, you’d have found that teachertech is “an archive of the webpages created by nearly 200 teachers and leaders who participated in the TeacherTECH workshops between June 1995 and June 2006.” The mistake appears to have been made by a middle school teacher. I’m not sure you can reasonably expect the university to correct said teacher’s 20-year-old error in their archive of what she actually did. ---
**Author:** ![someone11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@someone11](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/someone11)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2017, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/university-breaks-newtons-3rd-law/784046/3 "2017-04-08T09:15:48Z")
Yes, I see your point, however this came up because a nephew of mine had some questions about tides and I remembered that I only myself recently discovered that the information that I had been led to believe was correct for over 20 years was wrong. There’s a great video on the pbs spacetime youtube channel explaining how tides really work. I came across this site because all I was after was the particular no. of the law in question and I could have been someone who actually took the information on board. In this age of misinformation we hope that we are able to point younger people in the right direction so they are able to find out information for themselves that they can trust. If the website I link to has a respected university in it’s domain address one could reasonably expect it to be a trusted source of basic information. Therefore while I take your point I would counter that with suggesting that the university instruct their webmaster/mistress to simply take down that particular archive completely as untrustworthy, especially as it is aimed at trying to get young people off on the right track. It may be archived but it’s still searchable, I did not look deep into google’s suggestions to find it, so one would have thought that Rice U would have wanted to correct it or delete it as it will still reflect poorly on them, whether that is fair or not. ---
**Author:** ![someone11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@someone11](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/someone11)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2017, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/university-breaks-newtons-3rd-law/784046/4 "2017-04-08T09:26:25Z")
Edit: I forgot to add, to relate this to the actual article on Strait Dope, I would like to point out that it’s even more bizarre than the original NYTimes complaint because at least they had the rocket pushing against the air and clearly there is air high in the air, but the Rice U article has the rocket moving because it’s pushing against the earth so one wonders how this error was made because clearly there is no earth up in the air to push against. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2017, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/university-breaks-newtons-3rd-law/784046/5 "2017-04-08T15:39:16Z")
> [@someone11](#): > > Edit: > > I forgot to add, to relate this to the actual article on Strait Dope … I hasten to point out that this community of Dopers is neither straitened nor confined in straitjackets, but are just exceptionally dedicated to getting their facts straight. As for the quote from the middle school teacher, one hopes she isn’t entrusted with teaching the youngsters anything more scientific than basket weaving. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2017, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/university-breaks-newtons-3rd-law/784046/6 "2017-04-08T15:53:22Z")
I’ve always thought the easy solution to getting heavy rockets off the ground would be to repeal the Law of Gravity. Maybe just over Cape Canaveral, cause other Floridians might be inconvenienced. ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2017, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/university-breaks-newtons-3rd-law/784046/7 "2017-04-09T14:18:37Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > I’ve always thought the easy solution to getting heavy rockets off the ground would be to repeal the Law of Gravity. Maybe just over Cape Canaveral, cause other Floridians might be inconvenienced. Reminds me of a line in _Star Trek - TNG_: Jordi - “The _Enterprise_ can’t generate enough thrust to deflect the planetoid from crashing into Hazzam IV” Q - “Just change the gravitation constant of the universe”