Question

A student writes, "A bird that is diving for prey has a speed of − 10 m /s ." What is wrong with the student's statement? What has the student actually described? Explain.

Answer 1

Answer:

Speed is a scalar quantity it has only magnitude. So in the given scenario the student actually described about the velocity.

Explanation:

In this situation, student is describing that the speed is -10 m/s. The speed with the negative sign is wrong because speed is a scalar quantity and scalar quantities have only magnitude, they do not have direction. So, his statement is wrong because he is describing the speed with the negative sign.

And also we know that velocity is a vector quantity, so it has magnitude as well as direction also. So in this situation, the student is actually want to describe the velocity because he is mentioning the magnitude in a particular direction.