Mark Widmer wrote:
each person exerts 20 pounds on the other person, and nobody is
exerting 40 pounds.
I really don't think so. Lets say the two of us are just connected by
my hand on your back. It takes 20lbf to keep you from going flying,
and 20lbf to keep me from going flying. So my hand puts 40lbf on your
back, and your back puts 40lbf on my hand.
This ignores that there's no way we could swing this fast with just my
hand on your back.
Jeff