A car is travelling west and approaching a stop sign. As it is slowing to a stop, the directions associated with the object’s velocity and acceleration, respectively, are



Answer :

Answer:

Velocity: to the west (same as direction of motion.)

Acceleration: to the east (opposite to direction of motion.)

Explanation:

Velocity and acceleration are both vector quantities, meaning each of these quantities are associated with both a magnitude and a direction.

The direction of the velocity vector of the object is the same as the direction of motion. Since the vehicle in this question is still travelling to the west, velocity of the vehicle would point to the west.

Acceleration is the rate of change in velocity, and is equal to the difference in velocity between the current and the previous instant ([tex]v_{1}[/tex] and [tex]v_{0}[/tex]):

[tex]\displaystyle \vec{a} = \frac{\vec{v}_{1} - \vec{v}_{0}}{\Delta t}[/tex],

Where [tex]\Delta t[/tex] represents the time difference between the two moments.

In this question, because velocity is decreasing without changing direction, [tex]\left(\vec{v}_{1} - \vec{v}_{0}\right)[/tex] would be in the same line as [tex]\vec{v}_{0}[/tex] and [tex]\vec{v}_{1}[/tex], but in the opposite direction.

Hence, in this question, because velocity is current pointing to the west and the vehicle is slowing down, the acceleration vector would point in the opposite direction- to the east.