Question

If an object is traveling east with a decreasing speed, the direction of the objects acceleration is?

Answer 1

If an object is traveling east and slowing down, its acceleration is westward or negative when east is considered positive. This negative acceleration is indicative of deceleration.

Step-by-step explanation:

If an object is traveling east with a decreasing speed, the direction of the object's acceleration is to the west. Acceleration is defined as the rate of change of velocity. If an object is slowing down, its acceleration is in the opposite direction of its velocity. When we consider east as the positive direction, and the object is moving east but slowing down, it means the object has a negative acceleration because it is accelerating toward the west. This is often referred to as deceleration. A real-world example could be an airplane landing on an eastward facing runway; as it comes to a stop, it experiences negative acceleration.

Answer 2

The force here is the acceleration. This force is used to decrease the velocity of the object in order to slow it down. This means that the direction of the force must be opposing the direction of motion of the object.

Based on this,
If an object is travelling east with a decreasing speed, the direction of the object's acceleration is west.