According to Newton’s third law each team pulls the opposite team with equal force in a tug of war. Why then one team Wins and the other loses?

According to Newton’s third law, forces on the rope must equal and opposite. But not all the forces acting on each team are equal. The factors like friction acting between ground and the team does not depend on the other team and can be larger on one side than on the other. Also, the grips on the rope need not equal and opposite. Thus, the net force acting on each team from all sources need not be equal. So, one team win and the other lose.


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