Sign convention Definition and 66 Threads

okay I annotated the diagram given and the grey thing where they take y axis up as positive is what I understand to be, right? But in the answers, they start off by going V = u - gt. They've taken acceleration due to gravity as a negative value. Why? I thought the skateboarder was falling...

Battery and Capacitor For a battery (or capacitor), the potential increases by ##\mathcal{E}## (or ##\displaystyle\frac{q}{C}##) as we move from -ve to +ve terminal (or plate) regardless of the direction of the assumed current. Resistor and Inductor Suppose we are traversing the loop in the...

Hello: I was looking for a widespread convention (akin to Hibbeler's, Beer's, etc) that deals with the sign convention of a vertical bar for bending moments. For example, without knowing in advance, how do I draw the bending moment at a cut passing through point E in the figure attached? Beam...

Just to clarify, I'm aware of the two equivalent expressions of the first law ##\Delta U = Q + W## and ##\Delta U = Q - W## when applied to a certain system, though my question is primarily about ##Q## - for which, as far as I am aware, the convention is almost universally that ##Q > 0## if heat...

Hello, As far as I know, the standard sign convention for Kirchhoff's law are: For resistor: the potential difference (voltage) is negative if the chosen loop direction is the same as chosen current direction through the resistor, positive otherwise. For battery: the voltage is positive if the...

Precursor : Sign conventions regarding Work by the system/on the system may even vary among Physics textbooks and among Chemistry textbooks and as a rule of thumb it is better to clearly mark out the convention used by the text being referred to specifically and remain consistent with it...

Homework Statement I am revising on the derivation of the differential equation of energy (White's Fluid Mechanics 7th ed) and I'm having trouble understanding the sign convention used in the viscous work term. The textbook first define an elemental control volume and list out the inlet...

Homework Statement A carriage is mounted on a spring, as shown in the diagram. The bottom of the spring is fixed to the ground. The carriage (loaded with its passenger) has a mass of 150kg. The carriage can only move vertically. The natural length of the spring is 10m and its spring...

Homework Statement I needed help to undestand some concepts in Ray Optics for my assignment. The topics which U am concerned are: Part 1: Mirror Equation, Refraction at singly curved surface, lens maker's equation, combination of thin lenses in contact. Part 2: Magnification Power of simple...

Here the voltage is negative so the current is negative. does it matter if I traverse the circuit through the other direction?

Homework Statement Cartesian sign convetion for microscope,compound microscope and telescope. Homework Equations distances in the direction of incident ray are negative and thsoe along it are positive. all distances are measured from pole of lens or mirror. The Attempt at a Solution 1.FOR...

Homework Statement I don't understand why the fixed end moment at AE is 10KNm ( clockwise) . Homework EquationsThe Attempt at a Solution Forger about the sign convention here , i have the resultant moment = 10KNm , which ic clockwise , why in the 2nd picture ( SFD and BMD part) , the moment...

Homework Statement In this question , we can see that in teh second picture , the 12.86kNm is in clockwise direction at the right of span BC . Homework EquationsThe Attempt at a Solution In meachnic of materials , i learned that when the beam curve upwards ( U shape) , then it has positive...

Homework Statement Particle A has a mass of 1kg and velocity 2x10^8m/s to the right and collides with a stationary particle B that has a mass of 4kg. after the collision, particle A moves to the left with a velocity(v) and particle B moves to the right with a velocity of 1x10^7 m/s. calcuate...

Homework Statement I doubt that is the following notes (in the first picture), correct or not? Because i couldn't find any proof in the other book... Homework EquationsThe Attempt at a Solution Can I say that consider σ positive to right and τ positive downward, orientation (θ) clockwise as...

Homework Statement I don't understand why the sign of moment of beam at left (clockwise) and moment at the right of beam (anticlockwise) are considered as positive... Why we can't assume the clockwise moment as positive and anticlockwise moment as negative? Homework EquationsThe Attempt at a...

Homework Statement http://nptel.ac.in/courses/112107146/22[/B] in the notes, the author define upward shear force as positive (LHS) , he take downward shear force as positive as positive (RHS)? Homework EquationsThe Attempt at a Solution why the author didnt fix downward shear force as...

A simple doubt came to my mind while browsing through logarithmic functions and natural logarithms we define $$\log_b(xy) = \log_b(x) + \log_b(y)$$ Here why is the condition imposed that b>1 and b is not equal to zero and that x and y are positive numbers? Is it something to do with the...

Okay so after reading various books on sign conventions for work I am told by my teachers that in chemistry,work done on the system is positive while work done by the system is negative while in physics it's the exact opposite I only use the former convention And modify the first law of...

My question arises from trying to get the correct sign convention for a pulley that has two boxes attached by a massless rope. one box is to the left of the pulley and the other box is hanging down below the pulley. If I take the counter clockwise direction to be negative, and set up my...

In the derivation for equation 24-2 in the picture below., the line integral was chosen along a path anti-parallel to the field lines. As a result, cos(180) = -1, which made the integral for the voltage positive. However, in examples 24-2 and 24-3, the line integral is also taken as...

If the work done by an electric field is N, then the work done by me will be negative N? Perhaps this applies if I move a charge against the field lines, but what if I move in the same direction?

Why is it not just dE = q + w because I assume if you use general sign convention and take work to be negative when it is done by the system and positive when it is done on the system, you should get the right answer. Silly question but I'd appreciate some clarity on this formula please?

In physics book, if work is done by the system, it is positive in my chemistry book, if work is done by the system, it is taken as negetive. when I asked my chemistry teacher, he said the sign convention is different in physics and chemistry. but why are they different?

The Passive Sign Convention from Wiki: "In electrical engineering, the passive sign convention (PSC) is a sign convention or arbitrary standard rule adopted universally by the electrical engineering community for defining the sign of electric power in an electric circuit. The convention defines...

Problem statement I'm trying to understand how passive sign convention works, and how to read the voltages/currents direction in a circuit. For different set of voltages and currents I'm trying to calculate power. I'm using the picture below as a reference. a) i=10A v=125V b) i=5a v=-240V c)...

Homework Statement I am having trouble understanding PSC. Please help on this question. Teach me like I am 5. My tutor couldn't break it to me. (SEE ATTACHED) and find whether the power is being given or taken Homework Equations p=vi p=-vi The Attempt at a Solution I can't...

Homework Statement The Attempt at a Solution I'm having trouble understanding how r1 = -1.5j and r2= r3 = 0. Can anyone make this a little clearer for me? I've spent quite a while trying to wrap my head around it but to no avail.

With Δt = γ ( Δt' + v Δx' ) For calculating delta t for stationary twin with values of traveling twin. Is it conventional that velocity (v) outbound is positive and distance (x') is negative. Then at turnaround point sign of velocity changes to negative. And for inbound v is negative and...

Homework Statement I am having a little trouble using mesh analysis. I'm trying to stick rigorously to the passive sign convention, as I'm told that this is sensible. Consider the circuit diagram attached, where I have added the mesh currents in orange. In red are the polarities for the...

Homework Statement This is a problem I made myself, I was curious to see if I'm understanding this convention properly. The link: http://gyazo.com/24c7f7f82f6453a3396d96d67c2a067d Homework Equations ##P=IV## The Attempt at a Solution Okay, from what I understand, the power...

Homework Statement Find Vad and VebHomework Equations voltage drop, KVLThe Attempt at a Solution I actually did: Vad -24V - 4V + 6V = -22V but this is wrong.I know going the other way Vad: 6V + 8V + 12V = 26V, because it is only drop, and plus to minus on drops means they are...

I googled for lens formula's proof on the internet and found one here http://www.tutorvista.com/content/physics/physics-ii/light-refraction/convex-lens-formula.php The problem is that during the course of derivation, it is assumed that image distance is -u following the sign convention...

I thought passive sign convention is obeyed when you have a positive current flowing into the positive terminal of the element first. But how about this case? While it is drawn that way, the positive terminal is actually the NEGATIVE terminal because the voltage is negative, so you have to flip...

Homework Statement What is sign convention, and how is it applied to vectors? I was reading an economics paper when I came across this term. There's a ":" sign between the vector in question and an entry, which is all supposed to output a real number. What exactly is sign convention, and how...

Hello, I believe this is a really stupid question but I can't seem to figure it out. So given a Minkowski spacetime one can choose either the convention (-+++) or (+---). Supposedly it's the same. But given the example of the four momentum: Choosing (+---) in a momentarily comoving...

Greetings, How do we decide on which sign to take when using the momentum operator? The question may be very simple but I need a push in the right direction. Many thanks.

Homework Statement Compute the surface integral for F = [3x^2, y^22, 0] and S being a portion of the plane r(u,v)=[u,v,2u+3v], 0≤u≤2, −1≤v≤1.The Attempt at a Solution I managed to get the correct answer, because with some luck I defined the normal in the correct direction. I am just confused...

Frictional force-- sign convention For a horizontal spring mass system is the frictional force considered negative (-μmg)? i guess it will be negative; the minus sign used to convey the force is trying to impede the motion of block then with that guessing work; i think friction force will be...

Hi! I'm having some trouble with optics. When we have convex, planoconvex, concave, planoconcave, and meniscus lenses, I don't understand how to substitute with the sign for R1 and R2. How do I determine whether the radius of a side is negative or positive? A book that I'm using said to take...

I read through all of the previous sign convention posts on this forum (and googled a lot and checked a bunch of textbooks) before posting this question. I don't understand the sign convention properly for geometric optics. There are two conventions that I've understood so far, and I've got a...

If a mass was hanging vertically from a spring under its own weight. In the static equilibrium position, using up as positive, the spring force is +kx and gravity is -mg. Add them up to get: kx - mg = 0. Using down as positive, the spring force is -kx and gravity is +mg. Add them: -kx + mg =...

Homework Statement The handle of the hammer is subjected to the force of F = 20. Determine the moment of this force about the point A. http://s3.amazonaws.com/answer-board-image/3214a2db-1a55-4648-b582-5f36f0f34451.jpeg Homework Equations Principle of moments: Mo = FxY - FyX The...

if a gas is expanding,what will be the sign of the work done by it?

Until today I learned in geometric optics that Object distance +ve for real object else -ve Image distance +ve for real image else -ve Radius of curvature +ve for if light comes to the surcace from the side lying center of curvature else -ve On the basis of this the lens formula...

Electric potential --- doubt in sign convention Homework Statement Revered members, I know dV = -E.dx so E = -dV/dx So E should be E = -V/x . But while deriving capacitance of a parallel plate capacitor when dielectric medium is introduced we use E = V/x. But how E = V/x? Homework...

From what I understand: P=+iv (current enters through the positive polarity of the voltage, implying that the element is absorbing power) and P=-iv (current enters through the negative polarity of the voltage, implying that the element is releasing or supplying power) I remember reading that...

Okay I realize that stars emit at least some radiation outside the visual range but I have seen stars with positive BC when I thought that most values are negative due to the radiant flux over all wavelengths being greater than its flux over a certain wavelength. Is the sign of the BC the same...