If a car is traveling eastward, can its acceleration be westward?

Question

explain?

Answer 1

Yes, if it is slowing down.

Let's say, for example, that your car is traveling eastward, so we have defined east as the positive direction. If you apply the breaks, the acceleration becomes negative in the eastward direction, which means it is positive in the westward direction, as west would be defined to be negative. Basically, you can always think of "deceleration" as "acceleration in the negative direction."

Answer 2

Yes. Another way to think of it is by throwing a ball up in the air: the acceleration is gravity (pulling the ball down) although at first the ball is travelling up.

If you think of it as a straight line, with travelling eastward being NEGATIVE and travelling westward being POSITIVE, you can have an initial velocity of -10 m/s (for example) but have an acceleration of 5 m/s.

That means in 1 second you will be travelling eastward at -5 m/s, in 2 seconds you will be stopped, in 3 seconds you will be travelling at 5 m/s westward.... So for the first 2 seconds you are travelling eastward, but accelerating westward!

Hope this helps!

Answer 3

If the car is slowing down then it is accelerating westward. Just like an object thrown upward will always be accelerating down because of gravity.

Answer 4

Yes, it is a constant that the earth rotates from east to west and the only time that this would be ruled out is if you are standing on the north or south poles.

Answer 5

Yes. Then it is called deceleration which is nothing but negative aceleration

Answer 6

You can't go in two directions at the same time.

Answer 7

Yup, technically it's decelerrating.