Courses
Courses for Kids
Free study material
Offline Centres
More
Store Icon
Store
seo-qna
SearchIcon
banner

Can kinetic energy be negative? Explain.

Answer
VerifiedVerified
405.6k+ views
3 likes
like imagedislike image
Hint: Kinetic energy is defined in physics as “the measure of the work an object is performed by virtue of its motion.”Kinetic energy is measured as a scalar quantity. Kinetic energy can be described entirely by magnitude. it is proportional to the mass and square of speed attained.

Complete step by step solution:
“No” Kinetic energy is constantly in a positive state. Both mass and squared speed are positive.

Explanation-
Kinetic energy can only be zero or positive; it can never be negative. This is because kinetic energy is defined as half an object's mass multiplied by the object's velocity squared. Mass can never be negative because it is a measure of matter, and velocity is always positive because it is squared.
An object's kinetic energy is the energy caused by its motion; if the thing moves in any way, it has positive kinetic energy. Unlike certain other physical quantities, such as velocity, kinetic energy is only concerned with magnitude and not with direction. As a result, even if an object exhibits "negative motion" by traveling in the opposite direction of what is considered positive, the sign of the kinetic energy remains unchanged.

Note:
Kinetic Energy Examples:
A truck traveling at the same speed as a car has more kinetic energy because the truck's mass is significantly greater than the car's.
As water has a specific velocity and mass, a river moving at a definite speed contains kinetic energy.
An asteroid falling towards Earth has high kinetic energy.
Because of its huge mass and fast velocity, the airplane's kinetic energy is greater during flight.
Latest Vedantu courses for you
Grade 11 Science PCM | CBSE | SCHOOL | English
CBSE (2025-26)
calendar iconAcademic year 2025-26
language iconENGLISH
book iconUnlimited access till final school exam
tick
School Full course for CBSE students
PhysicsPhysics
ChemistryChemistry
MathsMaths
₹41,848 per year
Select and buy