Can acceleration be positive while velocity is negative for an object?

Answer 1

Acceleration can be positive while velocity is negative for an object. For example, If the object (like a car) is moving in a negative direction (let's say west) and the brakes are applied to slow the car down. This causes the car to accelerate (commonly called deceleration) in the positive direction until it stops. Mathematically, one could work this out by taking the change in velocity over the change in time.

acceleration = (V final - V initial) / time

In this example, let's suppose V initial is -20 m/s and V final is -10 m/s, and the time for the velocity change is 5 seconds.

Then acceleration would be : -10m/s - (- 20 m/s) divided by 5 seconds = 2m/s/s

Thus, we see, an example of negative velocity yielding positive acceleration from an outside net force on the object via the brakes.

Answer 2

It is tricky to talk about "positive" and "negative" when you are talking about vectors. Think of a vector as an arrow pointing in some direction, in a two-dimensional plane or even in three-dimensional space; the length of the vector can of course not be negative. But this is just the length; for the "vector itself", it doesn't make much sense to talk about negative and positive, since that would mean comparing a point in three-dimensional space with a one-dimensional number line.

It is tricky to talk about "positive" and "negative" when you are talking about vectors. Think of a vector as an arrow pointing in some direction, in a two-dimensional plane or even in three-dimensional space; the length of the vector can of course not be negative. But this is just the length; for the "vector itself", it doesn't make much sense to talk about negative and positive, since that would mean comparing a point in three-dimensional space with a one-dimensional number line.

It is tricky to talk about "positive" and "negative" when you are talking about vectors. Think of a vector as an arrow pointing in some direction, in a two-dimensional plane or even in three-dimensional space; the length of the vector can of course not be negative. But this is just the length; for the "vector itself", it doesn't make much sense to talk about negative and positive, since that would mean comparing a point in three-dimensional space with a one-dimensional number line.

It is tricky to talk about "positive" and "negative" when you are talking about vectors. Think of a vector as an arrow pointing in some direction, in a two-dimensional plane or even in three-dimensional space; the length of the vector can of course not be negative. But this is just the length; for the "vector itself", it doesn't make much sense to talk about negative and positive, since that would mean comparing a point in three-dimensional space with a one-dimensional number line.

Answer 3

It is tricky to talk about "positive" and "negative" when you are talking about vectors. Think of a vector as an arrow pointing in some direction, in a two-dimensional plane or even in three-dimensional space; the length of the vector can of course not be negative. But this is just the length; for the "vector itself", it doesn't make much sense to talk about negative and positive, since that would mean comparing a point in three-dimensional space with a one-dimensional number line.

Answer 4

Yes. When the change in velocity (final velocity-initial velocity) is negative, the acceleration will be negative. For example, when a vehicle slows down to a stop, the change in velocity is negative because the final velocity is less than the initial velocity, which makes the change in velocity negative. Therefore the acceleration will be negative. a=(vf-vi)/(t2-t1)

Answer 5

Yes; it means it's headed in the other direction. Velocity is a vector quantity.

Answer 6

no because acceleration can be negative due to decreasing of velocity so its not possible

Answer 7

Yes. An object slowing down but still moving in a positive direction has a positive velocity but a negative acceleration.