Ok well I have been playing basketball for quite some time now and not once have I ever thought the ball was pushing me back with the same force that I was pushing it at. Seriously, this concept is super strange. Newton's Third Law of Motion states that when one objects applies a force on a second object, the second object applies an equal and opposite force on the first object. Well I can see how this law works with guns with its recoil but a basketball pushing me back is kind of far-fetched. My skeptisism is easily answered with the concept of action and reaction forces relative to mass. Since the mass of the ball compared to my body mass is so small my body will not accelerate backwards as fast as the ball will accelerate foward. So basically even though the ball is pushing back at me with the same force that I pushed it at, my mass being much greater, my acceleration goes unnoticed, while the acceleration of the ball is noticable as it cleanly swishes through the basket for the game winning shot.
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