There's a bit of a misunderstanding here. If a student pushes a tree with 10 Newtons of force and the tree doesn't move, it doesn't mean there's 10 Newtons of force *on* the tree. Here's why:

* Forces come in pairs: Newton's Third Law of Motion states that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. When the student pushes the tree with 10 Newtons, the tree pushes back on the student with 10 Newtons.

* Net force: The tree doesn't move because the forces are balanced. The student's force is canceled out by the equal and opposite force from the tree. This means the *net force* acting on the tree is zero.

Here's a simplified explanation:

Imagine you're pushing a heavy box. You might be applying a lot of force, but if the box doesn't budge, it means something else is pushing back with an equal force. That "something" could be friction, the weight of the box itself, or something else holding it in place.

In the case of the tree, the tree's resistance to movement is likely due to its weight and the friction between its roots and the ground.