A block is placed on an inclined plane and remains stationary, as shown in the figure above. A student claims, “The block remains stationary because as gravity tries to pull the block down the ramp, the block exerts an equal and opposite force on itself up the ramp.” Is the student’s claim correct? Justify your answer.

No, according to Newton's first law of motion, the block cannot exert a force on itself, and the body will remain at rest unless unbalanced forces act on it

However according to Newton's third and first laws of motion the action of gravity pulling the block down the plane is equal to the reaction force of friction, preventing the motion

Explanation:

According to Newton's third law, the action force of gravity on the block tending to drag the block down along the inclined plane is equal to the reaction force of the frictional force of the inclined plane due to the interactions between the surfaces of the block and the plane which tends to prevent the motion of the block when both the component of the gravitational force down the plane and the frictional force are equal.

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