Negative value of displacement

AI Thread Summary
The discussion focuses on a physics problem involving a car that skids to a stop, resulting in a calculated stopping distance of -33.6 meters. The negative value arises from the chosen direction of the X-axis in the exercise, which is a common convention in educational settings rather than practical applications. In real-world scenarios, answers would typically be presented as positive distances, often rounded for simplicity. Participants emphasize the need for a complete problem statement to provide accurate assistance. The thread concludes with a recommendation to seek help in dedicated homework forums for better support.
Anna55
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A car traveling rightward slams on the breaks and skids to a stop (with locked wheels). Find the distance required to stop it. (I have taken away some parts of the question.)

The answer became -33.6 m. Why is the value negative? Thank you in advance!
 
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Because it is a school excercise rather than real (engineering, forensic, scientific) life, and your teacher (author of the excercise) chose such direction for "X-axis" used to analyse the problem.

In reality no one would give you a negative number as an answer. Probably no one would also give so precise number, rather that "car stops in 100 feet" "30m", or maybe even "33m"
 
You should be posting this in the homework help forums. Also you need to post the correct and complete problem.

It is clear you have made a mistake but there is no way to help you due to insufficient information.

Locked: Please post a a complete question with your work in the homework help forums.
 
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