According to Newton's third law, isolated forces cannot exist: forces always occur in action-reaction pairs. The contact forces between the two blocks in this animation are an excellent example of action-reaction pairs.
Applied Force to the Right
Set the animation so that the external force applied by the hand acts in the positive direction. In this case, the external force is applied to mass
m1.

The free-body diagram for mass m
1 is shown below.

Thus,
m1 is acted on by two horizontal forces: the external force
F to the right, and a contact force
P21 acting to the left. Newton's second law for mass
m1 gives:
Fx =
F -
P21 =
m1a
(b) The applied force
F must make
both blocks accelerate. Solve this expression for the contact force acting on mass
m1.
P21 =
Enter a number.
2 N
Now consider mass
m2.

The only horizontal force acting on this mass is the contact force from
m1:
P12. Thus,
Fx =
P12 =
m2a.
(c) Solve this for the contact force acting on
m2:
P12 =
Enter a number.
3 N
Notice that
P21 points to the left while
P12 points to the right -- so they really are different forces. Nevertheless, to within round-off errors, you should find that their magnitudes are equal.
Applied Force to the Left
Set the animation so that the external force applied by the hand acts in the negative direction. In this case, the external force is applied to mass
m2.
(d) Isolate mass
m2, apply Newton's second law, and solve for the contact force.
P12 =
Enter a number.
4 N
(e) Isolate
m1, apply Newton's second law, and solve for the contact force acting on
m1.
P21 =
Enter a number.
5 N
Note that the contact force is now greater, since it must make the heavier block accelerate.