The velocity an object has is basically two parts: the speed at which the object is traveling, and the direction it is traveling in. As far as speed is concerned, the object could speed up or slow down. Either one of these would be termed acceleration on the object and would be described as a change in the velocity. Of those two, we tend to think of speeding up as acceleration only. But a decrease...
The velocity an object has is basically two parts: the speed at which the object is traveling, and the direction it is traveling in. As far as speed is concerned, the object could speed up or slow down. Either one of these would be termed acceleration on the object and would be described as a change in the velocity. Of those two, we tend to think of speeding up as acceleration only. But a decrease in speed, sometimes called negative acceleration, qualifies as a change in velocity as well. The other component of velocity would be the direction the object is traveling in. If you change the direction the object is traveling in, that qualifies as a change in velocity as well. Examples would be a car going around a curve in the road, a compact disc as it plays in a CD player, or a baseball player as he rounds the bases after hitting a home run. Speeding the object up, slowing the object down, or changing the direction it is moving in would all qualify for changing the object's velocity.
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