Question #558fa

1 Answer
Dec 2, 2017

If the ball slows down, that means the acceleration vector is pointing opposite to the direction of velocity vector. Since velocity is negative acceleration must be positive.

Explanation:

To see that acceleration is positive, without loss of generality, we can take the final velocity to be zero.
#vec a = (\Deltavecv)/(\Deltat) = (vec v_f - vec v_i)/(\Deltat)#

#vec v_i = -v_i;# (negative initial velocity)
#vec v_f = 0;# (ball slows down to halt eventually)

#vec a = (0-(-v_i))/(\Deltat) = +v_i/(\Deltat)#