Question

Speed can be positive, negative or zero. True or false?
A. True
B. False

Answer 1

Hint: Here, we know that unlike velocity speed has only magnitude not direction. Also, we know that speed is a scalar quantity. The basic difference between the speed and the velocity will help us find the appropriate answer for this question.

Complete step by step answer:
As we know that the speed is a scalar quantity which means it has only magnitude not direction whereas, the average velocity is a vector quantity.
Average velocity indicates direction and can be represented as a negative number when the displacement is in the negative direction, but an average speed does not indicate direction and therefore can only be positive or zero.

So, the correct answer is “Option B”.

Additional Information: We already know the basic difference of speed and velocity i.e., speed is the measure of how fast an object can travel, whereas velocity tells us the direction of this speed. Speed is a scalar quantity that means it has only magnitude, whereas velocity is a vector quantity that means it has both magnitude and direction. The S.I unit of velocity is meter per second (m/sec).
A speedometer also called a speed meter is a gauge that measures and displays the instantaneous speed of a vehicle. It is mostly mounted on bikes, cars, scooters. We also know that the speedometer used to measure the speed of a vehicle and the entire vehicle indicate speed in km/h.
The speed of sound is different in different mediums. Further, the speed that is more than the speed of sound is termed differently like- supersonic, hypersonic etc.

Note: This question can be directly answered by knowing the basic concept of speed and velocity. Since, we know speed does not have any direction therefore, speed cannot be negative. We must remember that the unit of speed and velocity is the same i.e., meter per sec or m/s.