A baseball bat exerts a force of magnitude F on a

ball. If the mass of the bat is three times the mass

of the ball, the magnitude of the force of the ball

on the bat is

(1) F (3) 3F

(2) 2F (4) F/3

1. F

This phenomenon is in accordance with Newton's Third Law of Motion, which states that when a body exerts a force on a second body, the second body exerts a force of equal magnitude in the opposite direction on the first body. The masses of the bodies are irrelevant in this case.