Motion of Object: Velocity & Acceleration Direction

[Lily Lauren]

I am so lost with this physics question, I am just new to physics and it is kicking my butt!

Question: You are describing to a friend the motion of an object moving north. However, you mention nothing about how the speed of the object as time passes.

a) Is it possible for your friend to state the velocity vector points north? Is it possible to state it points south? Explain.

b) Is it possible for your friend to state the acceleration vector points north? Is it possible to state it points south? Explain.



- This is probably a really simple question an I know both velocity and acceleration have direction but I'm confused on what this question is asking because both of them would need more then just a direction?

 

[PhanthomJay]

I am so lost with this physics question, I am just new to physics and it is kicking my butt!

Question: You are describing to a friend the motion of an object moving north. However, you mention nothing about how the speed of the object as time passes.

a) Is it possible for your friend to state the velocity vector points north? Is it possible to state it points south? Explain.

b) Is it possible for your friend to state the acceleration vector points north? Is it possible to state it points south? Explain.



- This is probably a really simple question an I know both velocity and acceleration have direction but I'm confused on what this question is asking because both of them would need more then just a direction?

You need to know both the magnitude and direction of a vector to fully describe it, but the question talks about direction with unknown magnitude. It is given that the velocity vector points north. But the object velocity might be changing with time, that is , accelerating or decelerating or staying constant
So now how do you answer and explain?