Can average rate of change be negative?

Question

Samantha Adkison · Accepted Answer

Yes.

Recall that the rate of change may encompass factors other than just speed, such as acceleration. Even though velocity is a scalar quantity and cannot be negative, it can be made negative by adding direction, which turns velocity into a vector. Additionally, you decelerate, which is another word for negative acceleration, if your speed is dropping. For example, let's say you had the function #sin(x)# to show the speed in respect to time. graph{sinx [-5, 5, 10, 10]} We can see that your speed increases up to a certain point, after which it decreases to a certain point, indicating a negative rate of change (in this case, a decrease).

Emily Ammerman · Answer

undefined Yes, the average rate of change can be negative. The average rate of change represents the average rate at which one quantity is changing with respect to another over a specified interval. If the quantity being measured decreases over that interval, the average rate of change will be negative. For example, if the temperature of a room decreases over a certain period of time, the average rate of change of temperature would be negative because the temperature is decreasing.